The New Millennium
by Pinkcandle
Summary: AU With the capture of the leader of the chosen children, the Kaiser was on the road to success. Soon, the Digital World was his, changed to be in his own image. But he never would have expected the changes that Davis would instill in him. Kaiser/Davis
1. The Kaiser's Victory

"Isn't it beautiful, Davis?" It had taken him three years to finally win the game. Yes, that was a lot longer than he originally planned, but by god he did it! Capturing Davis was the first and most crucial step. Without their leader, the chosen children became weak. The blond boy, known apparently as TK, had stepped in at one point to lead, but he failed. One by one the Kaiser annihilated their Digimon. He could clearly remember each one as it succumbed to dust and reformed as an egg. Even the older children had tried stepping in, but they too fell to his power. Now the Kaiser had eleven DigiEggs in a glass case on display in his citadel. All trophies of his glorious victory. Now the Digital World was a barren wasteland. The sun never shone, leaving the sky to grey clouds that thundered now and then. The ground was dull and bare. Every Digimon sported a ring or spiral, controlled by the dark towers which stretched on as far as the eye could see. The Kaiser had been enjoying his paradise for nearly a year, but he never got tired of standing on the roof of his citadel and beholding his creation.

Davis was standing beside the Kaiser, looking over the edge of the roof of the citadel down at the wasteland below. It stretched as far as the eye could see, just rocks and dirt and dust, remnants of what might have been a village or a temple, now just completely annihilated ruins. The teenager's red eyes surveyed the ground, the horizon, and the dark sky, and he nodded his head when he was spoken to. "Yes, master, it is. You did an amazing job," he answered in the monotone he'd been speaking in for four years. Four years he didn't really seem to notice had passed. Fours years that had changed him from a gangly pre-teen into a built teenager, skin a slightly darker tan and covered in scars from the countless times the Kaiser had taken out his frustrations on the boy throughout the long struggle for control of the Digital World. But in those four years, he had stood loyally by the Kaiser's side thanks to the dark spiral. It malfunctioned once in a while, sure, but once the Kaiser had secured the entire Digital World, building dark towers everywhere, the spiral stopped running into errors and a full year had gone by without a hitch.

"I really did, didn't I? You're good for noticing, Davis." The Kaiser had changed over the years. He was still the insane suave character from fours years ago, but he'd grown in that time. He was taller, though still not meeting Davis in height, nor in build. It seemed the body he occupied was always meant to be lean and lithe. The dark glasses were abandoned, leaving his narrow eyes free to observe everything around him. Midnight colored hair was grown out, nearly to his waist, but kept pulled back in a tight ponytail. A form fitting black, sleeveless crop top hugged his torso. Equally slim fitting black pants in combination with the shirt left a soft belly revealed, one he could never really tone no matter how hard he tried. Then there were the boots, tipped with metal, so a swift kick was all that was needed to assert his authority. "Would you change anything about it, Davis?"

"No, master," Davis said, shaking his head. "I wouldn't. And besides," red eyes flicked over to the Kaiser, hands folded behind his back as he stood as if he were a soldier standing before his general. "It's not my place to."

The Kaiser nodded. "It's not. Very good. But tell me, Davis, at least the best you can." He walked forward, feet stopping just at the ledge where the wind blew up from the sides of his citadel. "If I were to give you a small corner of this world, as a reward perhaps, what would you do with it?"

Davis seemed confused with that question. He frowned gently, a small turning down of dark lips. "I suppose... I would..." his monotone voice was choppy, and it faded off as he froze, staring at the Kaiser with unblinking red eyes. Despite the spiral's success at keeping him under its control, his enslaved personality hadn't evolved any further. It had began to, once, when the Kaiser paid him special attention, but now he seemed to be the same mentally, even as his appearance changed throughout the years. So, when asked a question with an answer that required a deeper opinion, he froze up.

The Kaiser sighed. Sometimes he wanted to give Davis more mental freedom, but there were too many risks involved. Having a Yesman was nice, but having a conversation now and then would be nice. Oh well, such is the price for compelete and utter devotion. "Maybe I can make this easier for you, Davis. Would you put trees or water there?"

"I don't have the ability to do that," was Davis' simple, straightforward answer.

He grit his teeth. "I would help you with the design, Davis. Now choose!"

"Water," Davis finally responded. "It is needed for me to live."

"Ah..." The Kaiser smiled. "Using our head, are we? In addition to the water, would you put flowers or buildings there, Davis?"

"Buildings," Davis responded. "They would protect against the storms."

"Very good!" he praised. "Now, Davis, I must ask you. Don't you think having at least one tree around might be important?"

"For air?" Davis asked, red eyes trained on the Kaiser's back.

"Yes, Davis! Very good!" He was rather impressed, to be perfectly honest. "All right, Davis. You have your water, your building, and your tree. Would you put the sun or the moon in the sky?"

Davis was quiet for a moment, then glanced up at the dark sky. "The moon," he finally answered. "Everything is digital... the tree doesn't need the sun. And... I like looking at the moon."

Now he looked over his shoulder. The answer was both logical and personal. Even though it had been years, the Kaiser was still wary of Davis getting personal or emotional. Everything seemed to be in order though, so he was left slightly in awe of Davis' response. "That is a lovely choice, Davis. Now one last question. If you could have any plaything, any toy with which to entertain yourself, what would it be." The Kaiser chuckled. "And I don't count."

Davis opened his mouth to answer, but the Kaiser's last statement made him close it again. He thought for a while, the gears obviously turning in his head by the look on what would be an otherwise blank face. But after a very long pause, he simply shook his head. "I... don't know. I have not played with anything in a very long time, master."

"I'm partial to carousels," he said, not even bothering to acknowledge Davis' failure to come up with an original thought. Though the excuse was understandable.

"You said that once, one year and three months ago," Davis repeated like some sort of record. "But I don't know what they are."

"Do you know what a merry-go-round is, Davis?"

"Oh," Davis said, seeming to recognize that phrasing better. "Yes, I do."

"They are the same thing. Merry-go-round is the common man's term for it. From now on, you will refer to them as carousels. Now, do you like carousels, Davis?"

Davis nodded, mentally noting the change. The Kaiser had been slowly shaping his vocabulary amongst other things. It was why he spoke so logically now when his enslaved mind would have otherwise stopped functioning at this point. "Yes, master, I like carousels."

The Kaiser nodded. "Good, then that is what you shall have." Off in the distance, over the rolling thunder, came a rather loud buzzing noise. It burned in his ears, making the Kaiser cringe. Seeming to get louder and more high pitched, the teen finally turned around. "What is that horrible noise?!" And he got his answer just a few seconds later when a too low flying Flymon swept right over his head. The Kaiser lost his balance and fell over the ledge, crying out and grabbing on just at the last second. Davis seemed to stand in shock for a second, before he stepped over to the edge and grabbed the Kaiser's wrist. He pulled it up first, dislodging the other boy's hand so he could grab it, and then pulled the Kaiser up by it, slipping his other hand around the Kaiser's back to pull him onto solid footing again, having to take a step back in order to let the Kaiser's feet touch the rooftop, though they stood rather close together close to the edge. "Davis, back up you idiot! If we both fall we're dead!" the Kaiser snapped viciously. He was more angry at that stupid Digimon who didn't have the mind to watch where it was flying.

Finally, Davis took a few long strides backwards, pulling the Kaiser along by his hand until they stood now in the middle of the rooftop. "Is this okay, master?" Davis asked, eyes on the sky, as if expecting the Digimon to return and try to snatch the Kaiser or something.

Dark eyes looked to the sky as well, as if expecting the same thing. While he would never say it out loud, the Kaiser was a bit paranoid about Digimon breaking free of his control and coming after him. "I just want to go back inside now, Davis," he huffed.

"Yes, master," Davis said with a nod. There was a small stairwell that lead the way back inside the citadel. Davis moved them over to it and quickly opened the door, holding it open for the Kaiser to go through first. He accepted the gesture with a curt nod. The Kaiser wasted no time hurring down the stairs, back down into the safe, dark, strudy walls of his home. He walked briskly through the halls, huffing and muttering under his breath about this and that. Finally the Kaiser was back in his own room, seated in front of the mirror where he was trying to fix some bangs that had fallen into his face. Over and over again he tucked them behind his ear, smoothing them, making a red mark where is nails kept rubbing. The whole time, Davis had followed at his heels. When they were back in the Kaiser's room, he stood behind him, watching the other boy carefully in the mirror. He recognized the obviously disturbed expression on the Kaiser's face, and watched him fiddle with his bangs. He frowned gently before speaking up. "Do you need any help, master?"

"I want that Flymon found!" he barked and slammed his fists on the vanity top. Again the few stray stands fell loose and hung in his face. The Kaiser shouted, grabbed the scissors from the front drawer, and just cut the hairs clean off.

Davis seemed unfazed by the Kaiser's outburst, and simply nodded his head. He stepped outside of the room for a few moments, and soon returned. "It's being taken care of now, master," Davis said as he came to stand behind the Kaiser again. His hand suddenly came forward and raked through the Kaiser's hair, as if trying to calm him down.

The Kaiser stood suddenly, dislodging Davis' hand from his hair. "Is it too much to ask for to be treated with respect?! I'm the fucking Digimon Kaiser! Everyone should know this by now!" He paced the room, obviously tense and breathing hard. "If you see me on the roof, fly higher so you don't knock me off! Move over to the left so you don't trample me! Swim deeper so you don't splash me! Is that really so hard? Am I asking for too much?! Because I think I'm quite reasonable!"

"Of course you are," Davis said with a nod, his hand hanging in the air for a second before he let it fall to his side slowly. "They simply don't understand, master. They aren't as smart as you are."

"Well that much is obvious," he groaned. "But you aren't nearly as brilliant as I am, but you still know not to walk on my heels or sit on me or jump on me. I know they're just stupid game pawns, but they know who I am and how they should treat me!" The Kaiser turned on his heels, gesturing wildly with his arm and hand. "I'll show them! I'll show all of them! This was the last time anyone threatens my life!"

Davis watched the Kaiser as he paced back and forth, letting him go on and on. After a moment of the Kaiser breathing hard, Davis piped up only with, "You're tense, master," raising his hand again as he spoke.

"Of course I'm tense, Davis!" he spat. "I'm angry and upset!"

"Would you like me to help, master?" he said quietly. It was an offer he made often, ever since the first time he'd managed to help calm the Kaiser, four years ago. Sometimes the other boy took the offer, sometimes he was simply too worked up and Davis received the blunt of his frustrations. But either way, he still always offered.

This time he decided to accept, but not gracefully. "Fine," the Kaiser huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Although I'm sure there's nothing you can do. I'm so pissed right now."

Davis walked forward rather boldly, his hands folded behind his back. He came to stand in front of the Kaiser, red eyes locked on the other boy's face. "May I kiss you, master?" he asked quietly.

The Kaiser was hesitant at first, again still carrying that memory from four years ago. Davis was rather calm at the moment, though, and stood like he normally did. Reserved and in control. Finally he nodded. "If you feel you must." Davis nodded, stepping forward again, until he stood over the Kaiser just slightly. When the other boy's head turned up a bit, dark lips were pressed against pale ones. He tried nothing more, completely stable and obedient. He did no more than he was told he was allowed to, and that was simply the kiss. Kaiser accepted the kiss with more grace than he had the initial offer. He allowed their lips to press together for a short time before pulling away. Damn it. Why did Davis always have to be right about this sort of thing? "You may kiss my cheek and neck if you like, and you may also use your hands. Modestly, Davis." Davis just nodded, moving his lips away from the Kaiser's mouth to kiss a line from his cheek to his ear, and then down his neck. He moved slowly and precisely, never rushing or lingering too long. Lips touched pearl skin for a moment, moving fast enough that they stayed interesting, but never seeming to be skimped upon to move on to the next kiss. This was an art Davis had perfected. And while he followed this imaginary line with his lips, his hands came to rest on either side of the Kaiser's waist. He hummed softly with delight. "You're very good, Davis." Kaiser's hands came to touch Davis' chest. He could feel all the toned shapes beneath the snug, dark red muscle shirt he allowed the teen to wear, along with the pale washed straight jeans. Having his servant naked all the time was fun at first, but he grew a bit bored of the image after a year or so. "You always make your master happy."

"I'm glad, master," Davis said between kisses as his lips ghosted down the gentle curve of the Kaiser's neck. His hands slid around the Kaiser's back, nails ghosting over it as they met in the curve of the small of his back. When his lips hit the small crook of the other boy's neck and shoulder, he stopped, red eyes glancing up. "I only want to make you happy."

The pale one actually smiled. "I know, my dear boy, and you do such a wonderful job of it." Kaiser turned his head and gestured to his neck. "Now this side, Davis. You can't leave a job half done, now can you?"

"Of course not, master," Davis agreed, leaning a bit closer so he could gain access to the other side of the Kaiser's neck. This time he started at the bottom, moving upwards, and his hands slid up the Kaiser's back as well as his lips travelled a similar path. When he reached the top of the Kaiser's neck, he hesitated a moment, but then placed a kiss on the other boy's earlobe, nipping it gently.

"Ah ah ah..." A firm hand caught Davis about the jaw and moved his head back. "I did not give you permission to use your teeth, did I, Davis?" He stared firmly into his servant's gaze, where another modification could be found. The red glow of Davis' eyes had become a real bother, so Kaiser created a pair of contacts that dulled the red just slightly and allowed some of the brown to show through. "What were my instructions, Davis? Repeat them back to me."

"You may kiss my cheek and neck if you like, and you may also use your hands. Modestly," he repeated. "I'm sorry, master," he apologized quietly.

"Very well then." Kaiser pushed up on his toes to kiss Davis at the corner of his mouth. "I feel like a show, Davis. How do you feel about a little trip to the colliseum?"

"If you want a show, master, I'd like to go too," Davis said, his voice losing its quietness and regaining the smooth monotone he normally spoke in.

He grinned. "Excellent!" Kaiser took Davis' hand up into his own as they walked through the halls. "I feel like a cat fight, Davis. Females are such viciously absurd creatures, aren't they? Rosemon and Zephyrmon might be fun to watch. What do you think, Davis? Sound like a good time?"

Even the normally emotionally void slave cracked a pearly white smile that contrasted his dark lips at the Kaiser's idea, his feet shuffling along the cold metal floor as he kept up with the other boy's stride. "Yes, master. Yes it does."

"You are so adorable when you agree with me," he said with a dark purr. They rode the classic Airdramon out to the large stone arena where the Kaiser kept Digimon for fighting. His throne was also rather large and ornate, made of twisted black metal and well cushioned. Davis was allowed a smaller seat made of smooth wood with a pillow to sit on. A loud shriek signaled the start of the fight as Zephyrmon lauched from the gate, her clawed hands ready to strike. Rosemon was ready though, using her thorned whip to catch Zephyrmon around the wrist and sling her into the ground. "They're feisty today."

Davis sat strangely on his chair as he watched, one leg propped up over one arm of the chair while the other tucked underneath him on the pillow, positioned as if he was only half sitting cross-legged. His elbow was then rested on the opposite armrest and he placed his chin upon his fist, mostly to stop himself from gaping at the fight as the two went at it, clawing and screeching nonsensically. "Yes they are, master," Davis agreed in a murmur, as if speaking much louder would scare the Digimon off like small animals, despite them being seated high above where the actual fight was taking place.

Kaiser just chuckled. "I like when they're feisty." The fight managed to last for at least half an hour. Both Digimon seemed to be getting fed up with each other, so real attacks began being used. Rosemon used her Roses Rapier to tear the other's wings to shreds, forcing her to the ground where she would be at a disadvantage. She attacked again with Forbidden Temptation, aiming to completely annihilate her opponent, but Zephyrmon still had her speed and dodged the blast. It was her turn to summon her Wind of Pain, which sliced Rosemon's petals, leaves, and cape. In fact, she was so weakened that she devolved back into the more petite sized Lilymon. "Oh ho! What do we have here?" Kaiser laughed, leaning forward in his throne expectantly. "She's nearly got her down for the count."

Davis watched this fight with a quirked brow. He saw Rosemon's cape get torn apart and began to think in a way which he didn't normally. He still spoke in a murmur, suddenly saying, "I wonder what's under Lilymon's dress."

Kaiser flinched, going completely rigid. He did not just hear that. He turned slowly to look at Davis, the bottom lid of one eye twitching. "Excuse me?" he growled out lowly.

Davis lolled his head to the side, making his jaw shift to the other side a bit, a pensive expression on his face sans his blank eyes. "I'm curious. Is it a dress or part of her body?"

Now he just look dumbfounded, his face one of total disbelief. "What does it matter, Davis?"

Red-brown eyes glanced over at the Kaiser. "It doesn't matter, really. I just wanna know."

"Well it's a bloody ridiculous question!" the boy shouted. "If you're so damn interested in Digimon pussy all of the sudden, they why don't you go down there and look for yourself!" Kaiser finished this by kicking Davis out of his chair, sending him tumbling down a few steps. He grumbled angrily as he stood and stormed off into the tunnels. Clearly his appetite for the fight was completely gone.

Davis made a surprised noise when he was kicked out of his chair, and landed at the edge of the balcony, skidding across the stone. He groaned a little as he stood up and at once trotted up the steps to follow after the Kaiser despite his obvious outrage with Davis. He walked into the tunnel after the other boy, walking quickly to try and catch up with him. "I'm sorry, master," he called ahead.

It was relatively dark in the tunnels, lit only by the torches of blue fire. Kaiser's figure would disappear into the shadows, appear again in the brief light, and then vanish again as he walked. "Sorry isn't good enough this time, Davis!"

"What should I do to atone for my comment then, master?" Davis responded instantly.

Kaiser stopped in his tracks. "My god, Davis! Do you even know what you did wrong?"

Davis scrunched up his brow line, frowning a bit. "I said something that made you angry," he said simply.

"It's more than that, Davis!" he shouted, angry all over again. "Don't come home until you figure it out!" And Kaiser was off again, stomping down the tunnel until he disappeared completely and even the sound of his heavy boots faded away. He highly doubted Davis would be able to really come up with a sensible reason, but he couldn't be around the other boy right now. Maybe he'd come fetch him in a few days. ...Maybe.


	2. Jealously and Proof

Davis watched him go, licking his lips as they frowned. He didn't understand what he'd done wrong, but he loyally didn't budge and simply sat down in the spot where the Kaiser had left him, eyes on the stone beneath him as he propped his head up in his hands to think. Hours went by before anything came to get him. Very quiet scuttling noises could be heard drawing closer and closer to the boy. Finally, Wormmon was seen in the blue light of a nearby torch. Being as small as he was, he had to be pretty close to be seen. "I was worried when Ken returned without you," he said and approached Davis.

Davis glanced up, and then looked down at the floor again. "Leave me here. I cannot return home until I figure out what I've done wrong."

Wormmon tilted his head slightly. "Are you any closer to figuring it out than you were when he left you here?"

"...No," Davis admitted, shaking his head.

"Would you like my help?" he offered.

Davis frowned a bit. "Do you think master would be angry?"

"Did Ken say you couldn't have help?"

Davis scratched at his chin before shaking his head. "No, he did not." He then smiled weakly. "I would like some help then."

Wormmon nodded. "You don't have to tell him I helped you, if you'd rather not." He scuttled closer, propping his front claws on Davis' crossed legs. "Now tell me what happened. Why are you in trouble?"

"I said I wondered what was under Lilymon's dress," Davis answered.

"Hm, I see... And what did Ken say?"

"He said 'Excuse me?" Davis said next, his voice flat save for a replication of the Kaiser's tone of voice when he quoted him.

Wormmon knew this was going to take a while, with Davis' habit of verbatum. "Right, what did he say when he sounded most angry?"

"If you're so damn interested in Digimon pussy all of the sudden, they why don't you go down there and look for yourself!" Davis repeated.

Wormmon made some kind of noise through his pincers as they clicked together. That was quite the bold statement. "I see..." he said again. "Davis, do you understand jealousy?" the worm asked, not sure what the answer would be.

Davis seemed to pout a bit as he tried to recall. Eventually, he shook his head, and leaned forward on his knees, looking down at the little Digimon. "No, I don't. Will you explain it to me?"

"Certainly. You like Ken, right? You might even say that you like Ken very much?"

Davis nodded. "Yes, of course. I love my master."

"Good good. You like being the only one to make him happy, right?"

"Yes, I do," Davis said, nodding.

Wormmon antennea twitched. So far so good. "Now, Davis, I want you to imagine what it would be like if another human came along who made Ken happy instead of you. Would that make you feel good or bad?"

Davis was quiet for a moment, seemingly putting the pieces together. "Bad," he finally concluded. "Is that jealousy?"

"Yes, Davis. That is jealousy. Jealousy is when you get upset about someone taking the special attention you use to get from a particular person. So if I told you that Ken got mad because he was jealous, do you understand why?" Wormmon knew this might be harder, but he would work Davis through it. Despite all the horrible Ken had done to the digital world, he was still the boy's Digimon, and that meant making Ken happy.

"Was he jealous that I was looking at Lilymon?" Davis asked far quicker than Wormmon might have expected, slapping his palms on the stone floor as he leaned closed to the Digimon, his face seemingly having lit up with an excited expression at this revelation.

"Yes!" Wormmon exclaimed. "You were giving Lilymon some very personal attention that Kaiser wants you to only give him. You see, Davis, Ken cares about you far more than he is willing to admit. In both a physical and emotional way. Showing interest in what was under Lilymon's skirt is a betrayal of his physical bond with you. According to Ken, if you are going to give attention to anyone's body, it should be his. Do you understand all of this, Davis?"

Davis' mind seemed to be far off, though. He was grinning, his fingers drumming against the stone floor. "My master likes me," he said stupidly. One might wonder how he spent four years servicing the other boy without realizing it, but his enslaved personality was still not the brightest crayon in the box, even if the Kaiser had instilled some logic in him. Eyes then glanced back at Wormmon. "What should I do now?"

"Well, now you can go home. You should go see Ken, apologize, and tell him that you understand your mistake. Explain to him that you understand his jealousy and apologize for making him feel that way. Can you do this, Davis?"

"I can do that," Davis said with a nod. He pushed himself up into a standing position, looking determined. Suddenly, something else came to his mind, and he looked down at Wormmon. "I think the Digimon who were fighting are still out on the field, if they didn't destroy each other."

Wormmon pat his claw on Davis' ankle. "They've been taken care of. It's late, Davis. We should get you home." Wormmon had used a Megadramon to fly himself to the colliseum, which they naturally rode back to the citadel. He led the boy to Kaiser's bedroom where he ushered Davis inside, giving him a little nudge. "Go on. You can do it." The bedroom was empty, but the sound of someone moving through water could be heard coming from the bathroom. Davis nearly stumbled when he was pushed, but he kept his footing and looked around the room. He'd nearly opened his mouth to speak before he realized it was empty. When he heard the sound of water, he made his way over to the bathroom door. Too many times had he simply barged in on the Kaiser while he was bathing, so he'd now been trained to knock, which he did.

Kaiser was lounging in the tub, a glorious orgy of bubbles floating around him. "Come in."

Davis opened the door, edging into the bathroom and walking over to stand in front of the bathtub, hands folded behind his back. "I realized what I did wrong, master," he stated.

"So you decided to come crawling back and beg my forgiveness?" Kaiser asked, lifting one leg up, watching the water trickle down his slender calf before lowering it again. "Well get on with it. Why were you bad, Davis? And you'd better have the right answer."

"I made you jealous," Davis said much more bluntly than he'd been instructed to.

Dark indigo eyes landed on the tan teen. "Oh did you? And how's that?"

"Because I was looking at Lilymon," Davis said. "And you want me to look at you."

"So it's my fault?" he asked, eyes now narrowing.

"It's my fault for wondering about Lilymon," Davis responded. "I'm sorry, master."

"You're damn right you're sorry." Kaiser stood now, rising up out of the water and stepping out of the tub. His pale body was dripping wet, stray suds slipping down his legs, and his long hair hung straight down his back, some even over the front of his shoulder. "I am your master, Davis. Your loving, giving, merciful master. I've given you everything and you would dare cast your eyes on another?" He came slowly down the steps. "You were disloyal, ungrateful, and disgraceful."

Davis bowed his head, looking down at the floor. "I'm sorry, master," he repeated. After a moment, he got down on one knee, and then the second one hit the tile, and his hands came to rest in front of him as the Kaiser's feet stopped in front of him.

"Do you love me, Davis?"

"Yes, master," Davis said, nodding his head while keeping his eyes on the floor. "I love you."

"Look at me!"

Davis' red-brown eyes finally looked up at the Kaiser, towering over him. "I love you, master," he repeated.

Kaiser didn't smile, but one hand reached down to cup Davis' jaw and cheek in his palm. "Good, Davis. Now show your master how much you love him."

Davis blinked up at the Kaiser for a moment, before he directed his eyes to the part of the boy that his face was held before. Positioned right in front of the Kaiser's hips, he soon leaned closer, tilting his head to the side so his face brushed against the inside of the top of the Kaiser's thigh. "May I, master?" he asked in a quiet voice.

He sighed as his nails scraped along Davis' cheek. "Don't make me repeat myself, Davis," warned in a deceptively sweet voice. Davis bit his lip a bit. He didn't know his boundaries without any instruction from the Kaiser. But he inhaled deeply and exhaled, his breath brushing against the gradually drying pale skin. He soon leaned into the inside of the Kaiser's thigh and began to kiss at one spot he knew was a bit sensitive. Kaiser made a quiet sound not unlike a gasp. His hand moved into Davis' short cinnamon hair which he gripped firmly, but didn't pull. He tilted his head back, eyes closing, and breathed deeply. "Very good, Davis." Davis smiled a bit at the praise. His tongue flicked out across the spot, and his teeth nipped at it, taking the flesh into his mouth. He sucked on it gently, and then his tongue teased it again, before running a curving line along the inside of the Kaiser's hipbone, following the line of the other boy's thigh before moving up to his stomach. Davis' hands came to grip the Kaiser's hips as his tongue was lead across the soft skin, and his tongue soon dipped into the shallowest dip. "Mmn..." His fingers gripped a bit harder now. There was a blush on his cheeks and his head turned down to tuck his chin into his chest. Sometimes Kaiser regretted revealing that pleasure spot to Davis, because sometimes the boy used it to his own mischeivious advantage. It just felt so good. This body he stole from a sad boy so long ago. Kaiser moaned again as that tongue squirmed around.

Davis' mouth kept moving, tongue slipping in and out, teeth nipping gently at that pearly skin. Meanwhile, one of his hands slipped from the Kaiser's hip and moved down, soon pressing his fingers into the sensitive skin below the Kaiser's lower belly, kneading gently. His mouth moved away from the Kaiser's skin to say quietly, "I love you, master," before he moved back in to continue his work.

Kaiser gasped again, louder. His legs trembled beneath him and suddenly he fell. At first he was draped over Davis for support, but soon enough he slipped away to lay upon the tiled floor. Midnight colored hair, still damp, splayed out beneath him. One knee was turned in slightly while the other sort of turned out. Indigo eyes looked at the other boy and swallowed, saying, "You're so cruel, Davis."

Davis' hand came to touch the Kaiser's kneecap, thumbing it gently as he turned it away so he could crawl between the other boy's legs. He couldn't deny that the other boy's gasps and gripping fingers had excited him, but he was more concerned about exciting his master. "I'm sorry, master," he apologized quietly, before leaning his mouth down to move his kissing and nipping to the base of the Kaiser's length. This earned him a hiss. Blood was gradually pooling where it needed to be, rewarding Davis for his efforts. Kaiser's hand landed back on Davis' head, gripping and releasing in pattern. Softly the boy began to pant, sigh, moan. He deserved all of this attention. He did! He deserved every second of Davis' time. Nobody else was worthy. Not even close. Davis' eyes glanced up, and he soon realized that the other boy was almost ready. His mouth soon moved again, kissing at the Kaiser's sensitive skin before his tongue was pulled slowly up his master's length.

"Aahn..." He arched, bringing his hips up on reflex to the contact. "So very good, Davis," he groaned. "Make your master happy."

Davis nodded his head slightly. "Yes, master," he murmured as his mouth moved to the top of the Kaiser's member. He kissed the tip first, almost teasingly, but soon his lips slipped over the tip, and then down the entire length.

Kaiser groaned long and loud as Davis' mouth moved down his member. It'd been neglected for weeks, so this passionate attention was quite long overdo. The fingers in short cinnamon hair kept rubbing and scratching in praise, curling and stretching against the scalp. "Ahh... Ahhn... Aaaah!" Davis gasped inwardly slightly, eyes glancing up at the Kaiser before they slid shut. He then started to move his mouth up and down, sucking gently at first. But his mouth soon moved a bit more passionately, sucking harder, his tongue starting to work as well and licking up and down the sensitive length as the hot cavern of his mouth slipped up and down, enveloping it again and again at a steady, torturously pleasurable pace. "Ohhh, Davis!" He was throbbing in the other boy's mouth, drawing ever closer to his end. Kaiser thought about letting Davis do this more often, but he supposed then nothing would get done, and that would just be spoiling his servant as well. Sometimes he wasn't sure who enjoyed this more. Perhaps it was all relative. "Good, Davis! Good!" Admittedly he'd been impressed when the boy confessed to his mistake. It was quite the feat for Davis to figure that out on his own. Maybe the gears were finally starting to turn in there. But Kaiser knew this meant he'd have to keep an eye on things. Too much thought could mean trouble. "Aaah! Ooh-hhhhh!"

"Mm..." Davis' mind reeled with ways he could further please his master. He went through every sensitive spot he knew like a perfectly remembered checklist. Soon hands were gripping slim thighs and squeezing with strong fingers, and he began to moan as his mouth moved, sending vibrations through the other boy's body from his length.

Kaiser cried out, shaking his head and blushing. His length was wet and just the slightest bit sticky with the evidence of his mounting excitement. "Prove you love me, Davis," he commanded breathlessly. "Prove it right now! Aah!" When the Kaiser commanded that, Davis obediently delivered. He swallowed down what was already in his mouth and then pushed his lips all the way down to the base of the Kaiser's length, pushing his master past his gag reflex and proceeding to deep-throat him. And it seemed that was it. Kaiser cried out again as he released and his voice died down into a long fading moan. His hand slipped away from Davis' head and fell to the floor. The boy was laying there, panting, chest heaving for air. Kaiser licked his lips, like he was ready to speak, but no words followed. Davis sputtered at first, but soon swallowed and pulled his lips back, sitting himself upright. He crouched over the Kaiser and tongued at his teeth, trying to remove the strange feeling. He would have spoken, but he could tell that his master was trying to get something out, so he sat there silently between the Kaiser's legs, waiting. "You... You have proven your love for your master, Davis," the boy said quietly. "And you have earned his again. For now."

Davis crawled over the Kaiser's body, smiling down at him. "Was it good, master?" he asked.

"Yes, Davis." Indigo eyes looked up at the tan skinned boy. There was still a blush on his cheeks and beads of sweat on his forehead. "It was very very good."

Davis reached over and gently wiped the sweat from the Kaiser's pale skin, smiling. "I'm glad then, master," he said quietly.


	3. Pining for Home

"Davis." The voice was soft, but not quite gentle. Just the simple calling of the boy's name. "Davis. Davis, do wake up." Kaiser was standing at the foot of the bed fixing some fingerless gloves over his hands. He'd trained Davis to close his eyes at night once bedtime came around. Seeing those red-brown depths open and staring all the time was just too creepy. "Davis, get up now or you don't get your surprise."

Even though the Kaiser had taught Davis to close his eyes while he slept, when he awoke, they still snapped open instead of fluttering open like a normal person's. That was still a work in progress. He rubbed at his eyes and sat up, eyes at first fixated on the sheets before glancing upwards. "Good morning, master."

"Good morning, Davis. Did you enjoy yourself last night?" Kaiser asked in reference to their escapade on the bathroom floor.

Davis nodded gently. "I enjoy making you happy, master," he responded.

Kaiser nodded as well. "I rather enjoyed it, too. You were very good, Davis. You realized your mistake, apologized, and even proved your love to me. I think that earns you a reward." He smoothed his hair back, getting it all into the tight ponytail he wore every day. "Would you like that, Davis?"

"If you will reward me, then yes, I would like it," Davis said, pushing aside the sheets as he spoke, inching towards the foot of the bed to kneel on the mattress in front of where the Kaiser stood.

He waved his hand. "Oh please, none of that. Just get dressed, Davis. Wear the dark blue shirt today and the jeans with the holes. I like those ones." Davis nodded his head and put his feet on the floor off the side of the bed, standing up and heading over to the closet to dress himself. It was strange to see his clothing and the Kaiser's clothing hanging together. There was a time when the Kaiser definitely would not have allowed anything of that sort. But once the Kaiser started dressing Davis as he liked, like some sort of life sized doll, he'd allowed most of his clothing to hang at the back of the closet. Davis ducked into the back to retrieve the clothing he was told to and put it on, before shuffling back out into the bedroom, buttoning his jeans as he did. Kaiser waited patiently for Davis to dress himself. It seemed he was in a particularly good mood today. When the taller teen emerged from the closet, his eyes swept up and down the built body and grinned. "Flex for me, Davis. Just for fun." Davis actually seemed surprised at first. The Kaiser hadn't ever asked that before. But, quickly, he erased the look from his face and lifted one arm, holding his own wrist with the other hand as he pulled his forearm back, flexing his arm muscles. "Oh my..." he sang. Kaiser sauntered over, taking slow graceful steps, and stopped right in front of his servant. "Look at you, Davis. Growing into quite the handsome gentleman." His fingers touched the firm flexed muscles and he unconsciously licked his lips. "I must say I'm impressed. Now flex both arms at the same time, and see if you can work some pecs in with it."

Davis nodded obediently, releasing his arm. He moved his arms downwards this time, flexing them out and having the fists bump against each other for resistance. And the harder he pressed, the more his chest muscles became involved. "Like this, master?" he asked.

"Yes, Davis. That's perfect." Kaiser's hands moved all over Davis' toned form. He squeezed the muscles in his arms and rubbed his palms firmly over Davis' chest. "I swear you must be built like a horse. And hung like one too!" he finished with a bold laugh. The evil boy sighed when his laughter ended and wiped a tear from his eye. "Well, enough of this then. Let's get going. Your surprise is waiting for you."

The humor seemed to be lost on Davis, but he still smiled to see the Kaiser laughing. "Alright, master," he said, letting his body relax, prepared to follow the Kaiser to whatever he had planned.

They went out to the stables where Kaiser picked out a pair of Gaogamon for them to ride out into the wilderness. After maybe an hour, they came upon a patch of land that was covered in dirt rather than the barren stone of everything around it. It measured out a few good comfortable acres and was marked off by a set of glowing lines on the ground. "Here we are." Kaiser dismounted the Digimon and gestured for Davis to do the same.

Davis leapt off his furry beast, coming to stand at the edge of the glowing lines with a confused look on his face. "What's this, master?" he asked, his tone actually sounding curious as red-brown eyes scanned what he cold see of the dirt patch.

"You've been so good lately, Davis, that I've decided to give you your own piece of land." Dark indigo eyes looked over at his servant. "You remember our conversation, don't you?"

"Oh... yes, I do," Davis said, a small smile coming over his face. He looked over his shoulder at the Kaiser. "So... this is mine, master?"

Kaiser nodded. "Yes, Davis. All the land within this confined space is yours to do with as you wish, along with my approval. I can help you design it if you like." He came to stand beside his servant and stared at him critically. "But first, what do you say?"

"Thank you, master," Davis said, turning to the Kaiser and bowing his head. "You treat me far better than I deserve."

He smiled just slightly. "I do spoil you, yes. But remember, Davis. I can take all of this away as easily as I gave it to you. This land is a privelage, not a right. You must earn its keep. Do you understand, Davis?"

"Yes master. I understand," Davis said, nodding his head before straightening back up out of his bow. He then looked back out over the acres, a pearly white smile breaking out over his dark lips. "This is exciting, master," he admitted quietly.

"Well, I am glad to see you so grateful and excited, Davis." He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small metal device. Pushing one button activated it, a blinking green light signaling its proper function, and the pushing of a second button released a long spike from beneath. The Kaiser then knelt down to push the spike into the dirt. They had to wait a few seconds for all the data to connect, but soon enough a holographic console rose from the device, offering a keypad and screens. "All right, Davis. I believe your first choise was water." The Kaiser hit a key and small 3-D images sprang up from the screen. "You can choose an ocean front with waves. The water will gradually get deeper, but it will stop once it reaches the edge of the lot. You can have a lake. You can have grotto. Or you can have a perpetual waterfall into a swimming hole complete with rock formations."

Davis looked pensive for a moment, before cautiously approaching the holographic console. He looked at his options for a moment, running them over in his head. "May I... incorporate my other choices into it, master?" he asked in a soft voice. "The buildings and the moon?"

"Of course, Davis." The Kaiser was unusually kind today. He was just in a really good mood. "Would you like to have the moon first?"

"Sure, master," Davis said with a nod. "And then..." he started quietly, looking out over the dirt patch. "And then a man-made river down the center with buildings on either side... but they're up on a slope... with a bridge across it..." He stopped suddenly, red-brown eyes glancing over at the Kaiser. "Is that okay, master?"

The Kaiser knew in an instant what Davis was talking about. He had figured out at one point that memories would inevitably make their way back into Davis' mind. He'd seen it happen with Digimon already. When first under the spiral or ring's control, they knew nothing from before that moment, but eventually they returned to familiar kinds, places, and habits. The Kaiser didn't know how long Davis had been thinking about his home back in the real world, but such was the case now. "Yes, Davis, that will be fine." Except he didn't want to give the boy exactly what he wanted. The Kaiser feared that allowing Davis familiar images would inspire independent thought. If Davis remembered too much about his former life, he could gain the will power to fight back. Pressing a few keys, he set to desiging Davis' image. The sky over the lot turned dark and was blanketed in millions of stars and bright full moon. The river was dug down the center of the lot and filled with water, which perpetually flowed despite the barriers. The bank and slope were organic, warm packed earth with thick grass growing over top. The bridge was rather traditional; made of wood with red railings. The house formed up from the ground. Some were contemporary while others were much more traditional, and all were varied in size and shape. "How's that, Davis?" he asked when it was all done.

It wasn't the memory that Davis had hoped to see recreated, of course. He looked out over it for a moment, almost looking confused, as if he'd expected the image in his head. He looked over at the Kaiser briefly, then back at the area before him. But, his subservient nature to the Kaiser won out over his desire to see his thinking spot once more. "Great, master. Thank you."

He could see the sad confusion on Davis' face clear as day. And for a split second, the Kaiser almost felt guilty for not giving the boy what he really wanted. Damn it. "Davis..." he began hesitantly, "if you want changes made to this later on, to be more of exactly what you want, you will have to earn them. All right?"

Davis glanced over at the Kaiser before nodding his head. "Alright, master." He then looked back at the land and said, "May I use it now, master?"

"Of course," he said with a nod. The Kaiser actually took Davis' hand in his own and led him over the line. A brief warp of static indicated their being inside and the finer details that he programmed in could be seen. Stray clouds floated across the night sky. The illusion of hills and pine trees stretched on in the distance. The Kaiser then took Davis over to the edge of the river were there were golden koi, spotted in black and white, swimming in the current. Davis frowned a bit, sitting on the edge of the bank, even as he still held onto the Kaiser's hand. The trees, the hills, and the fish all brought a strange look to his face. It was as if the unfamiliarity was actually disarming for him. He felt the packed dirt beneath him and knew something was wrong. He inhaled deeply, red-brown eyes looking for something familiar. He soon spotted the reflection of the moon in the dark, rippling water, and his eyes glanced up so all he could see was the night sky. With the moon and the stars reflected in his mahogany eyes, Davis finally mustered a bit of a smile. "You... aren't happy..." the Kaiser observed softly.

"It isn't like I remember, that's all," Davis said quietly.

"I don't want you to leave me."

Davis glanced up at the Kaiser, looking confused. "I'm never going to leave you, master," he said, unsure of why that pertained.

The Kaiser sighed, putting his free hand to his forehead. "I'm afraid to give you what you want, Davis. What if I let you have exactly what it is you see in your head, and then you start to remember even more. I'm afraid any land I design for you won't be enough, and you'll crave the real thing, and then one day... You'll leave me again." This was all incredibly hard to say. The Kaiser hated showing any sort of weakness to anybody. Even someone who's mind was enslaved to him. Davis frowned a bit, looking saddened by what the Kaiser said. He looked at the water, and then back up at the Kaiser, before tugging on his hand slightly, asking him without words to sit down. He did as Davis wanted, moving to sit beside him at the water's edge. "You must think I'm selfish and mean."

That's when Davis leaned over and placed a gentle peck on the Kaiser's cheek. "I'm never going to leave you, master," he repeated.

The Kaiser touched his cheek, looking thoughtful. "Davis, if I took the spiral off your arm, would you still stay?"

Davis looked surprised at the question, before sticking his bottom lip out slightly. "I hope so, master," he murmured. The pale boy just nodded. He didn't speak for a long time. Dark eyes were trained on the koi swimming about in the river. There were two that kept circling each other, dancing. He watched as the black spotted koi suddenly broke formation and swam away. The gold koi just swam in place, looking after the other as it left. The Kaiser wondered if it was lonely now. But then, the black koi came back and they began dancing again. The Kaiser thought back to a time when he was very young and still not in control of Ken's body. His older sibling had died, and Ken had a terrible time with it. Mrs. Ichijouji had told him, if you love something, set it free. So those dark eyes shifted to look upon the spiral on Davis' arm. Maybe it had been long enough. Maybe Davis would feel true affection even without the device. His fingers touched the black metal, hesitant, comtemplative. Davis had been looking at the moon and the stars, not caring to notice the fish that were too unfamiliar for him. It was only when the other boy touched the spiral that he looked down, over at the Kaiser. He frowned as he watched the Kaiser's face change. Somehow, Davis picked up on what the other was thinking. "I'm sorry if I don't," he said suddenly in a quiet voice.

"Will you hate me if I don't allow you the chance, Davis?"

"Of course not, master," Davis said, shaking his head. "I want to stay with you."

"Do you want to be rid of the spiral, Davis? Do you want to love me without the spiral?"

Davis was quiet at first. He looked up at the moon, staring at it as its light reflected in his eyes. It seemed like the question had frozen him up, like such deep questions often did. But after many long moments, he opened his mouth to say, "I would like that, yes, master." But his eyes quickly glanced over at the Kaiser, light flashing across them. "But it is also the invention that helped me love you. I don't want to lose my love for you, master. If that means keeping the spiral, then I want it."

The Kaiser listened carefully to these words. He finally had everything he wanted. Taking the spiral off might mean jeoprodizing it all. Was he ready to do that? To set Davis free from control, to finally have a companion who could think and talk with him on another level, sounded like paradise. But... Davis might also spawn immediate hatred for him and attack. Finally he made a desicion. The Kaiser swallowed and touched the spiral, allowing it to unlatch and slip off of the tan muscular arm.


	4. A Weird Place to Wake Up

The Kaiser held the dark device in his hand, ready to thrust it back on, but he waited. "...Davis?"

Davis blinked surprisedly, the red tint suddenly dimming from his eyes, leaving only the chocolate brown hue of normality. He stared at the Kaiser, squinting his eyes a bit. He didn't even recognize him. Between his hazy mind and the Kaiser's teenaged features, long hair, and the lack of his signature outfit, he just quirked a brow at him. He then caught sight of the rolling hills and trees behind him and looked around the place. Up the hill and at the small houses, over at the bridge, and then at the river. "Okay..." he finally spoke, in a voice full of confusion and a bubbling sarcasm that was just ready to color his tone as he went on to immediately joke, "This isn't the first time I've woken up someplace I totally didn't remember goin' to sleep in."

The boy actually smiled a little. It seemed the same dramatics from four years ago weren't going to happen... or at least not right away. "And when has that happened to you before?" the Kaiser asked, trying to keep the mood calm and casual.

His voice was also too different to recognize at first. And Davis was so out of sorts that he just went along with the conversation rather than asking questions. "Well this one time, I woke up in the middle of the mall. I didn't even remember falling asleep. And this other time, I woke up on the beach in the middle of winter... no clue why I was down there then. Oh! And once, I woke up in my thinking spot after I fell asleep right in the middle of a thought, but man if I couldn't remember what it was. But I fall asleep there all the time, so I expected it." He looked around a bit more, frowning a little. "This place kinda looks like it. But not really."

The Kaiser smiled even more. He actually really liked hearing Davis talk this way. The cruel, unfeeling Kaiser had actually missed the sound of Davis pratteling on about nonsense. "Those are some weird places to wake up at. I don't think I've ever had that experience. You never told me you had a thinking spot, Davis. What kind of stuff do you think about?"

"Oh, tons of stuff," Davis said, suddenly flashing the other boy a huge grin. "Soccer plays a lot of the time, y'know? 'Cuse if I don't think of 'em, no one will. And like, sometimes I think about stuff I gotta get. Or I wanna get... I'd always think that I wanted a soda and then not wanna get up to go get one at the store. So I'd go home without it." He laughed then, seemingly finding his own absent-mindness amusing. "And sometimes I'd think about stuff that was happening, like, at school or with my... friends..." he trailed off a bit, shrugging his shoulders back. "Or in the Digital World."

"The Digital World?" he asked, fiegning curiosity. "That sounds fascinating, Davis. Tell me more about the Digital World." The Kaiser drew his knees up, resting one elbow on them and putting his cheek in that hand.

"Man, it's awesome," Davis said with a sigh, leaning back on his free hand. He didn't even seem to realize that he was still gripping the Kaiser's in the other. "Everything's made of data, right? It's all code and stuff and... well, I don't understand it really well. I'm no good with computers." He still grinned though. "And there's these things there called Digimon. And they're like, also made of data, but they're alive and they talk. And everyone's got one." He suddenly abandoned his shoes and socks by pulling them off only with the other foot, kicking them aside before letting his feet dip into the river before them. "I have one, y'know. His name's Veemon, and he's probably the best Digimon ever. He's smart and he's fast and he's always a step ahead of all the other Digimon. But maybe that's because he's teamed up with me," he said with a proud chuckle.

"It sounds like a great place to be. You're really attached to your Digimon. I can tell. I'm sure you two make a great team." The Kaiser had set the spiral to the side, hidden from Davis' view. "So, tell me, Davis. If something... bad... were to happen to Veemon, what would you do?"

"I dunno," Davis said, frowning a bit. "I'd be really lost without Veemon. He's my best friend. He's probably the only living thing I can trust to not judge me, y'know? He'd not like anything else. He doesn't have a reason to be petty or hold a grudge or laugh at me behind my back. I don't know how I got through most of my life without him."

"Hmn..." The Kaiser nodded. "Davis, I need to be honest with you. Veemon hasn't been around for a long time. In fact, you and I have been the only friend the other has for... almost four years now. Veemon just wasn't strong enough to survive."

Davis looked at the other boy critcially for a moment, but soon enough began to laugh. "That's a good try, man, but I haven't even known Veemon four years. And besides, I just saw him yesterday."

"Davis... I want to show you something. Can I?"

"Well uh, sure, I guess."

The Kaiser nodded. He tucked the spiral away for safe keeping before standing, pulling Davis up with him. "You'll be confused at first, but I promise everything will make sense soon." He led the other boy outside the barrier, another wave of static revealing the desolate wasteland the digital world now was. Instead of allowing Davis to ride the second Gaogamon, the Kaiser had them ride the same one back to his citadel. He didn't think the teen would recognize the place, especially since he'd redesigned it once or twice. Once inside, he led Davis to a room sporting one long glass case which held the eleven chosen eggs. The case sat in front of an equally long window. The entire display was a testament to the Kaiser's victory. "Do you recognize any of these, Davis?"

Davis had seemed confused the whole way there. Why had he fallen asleep in the middle of a desert? What kind of Digimon were they riding? He'd never seen it before. What was this huge building? It struck some sort of dormant memory, but he couldn't put his finger on it. And finally, the eggs in the case had him quirk a brow as well. He'd never seen any of the Digimon in their egg forms before. "No, why?"

The Kaiser nodded toward the case. "Look at the one in the center there."

Davis knelt down in front of the case and frowned at the eggs. In front of him, in the middle, was a blue and white egg. He put his hand on the glass and his brown eyes widened a little. "You're pulling my leg," he concluded shakily.

"Don't be sad, Davis," the Kaiser said softly. "He's safe where he is now." He came up behind Davis and wrapped his arms around the boy, resting his chin on a strong shoulder. "But look out there, Davis. Isn't it wonderful?" Dark eyes looked out the window at the stone and sand landscape. "We made it together. You and me, Davis."

"What?!" Davis asked, trying to wriggle free of the Kaiser's arms. "I didn't have anything to do with... anything! What are you talking about?!"

"Of course you helped," he chirped. "You were by my side the whole way. Clearly I could't allow you to fight since your friends might have taken you away from me, but you were always there for me. You were so supportive, though. I couldn't have created this paradise without you." The Kaiser leaned in to kiss Davis on the cheek. "Now we can enjoy it together."

Davis put his hand up and blocked the kiss before it could reach him. He then forced the Kaiser's face away, his face one of confused disgust. He didn't understand what was going on. But slowly, the pieces of the puzzle seemed to assemble in his mind until, "Kaiser!" he gasped, eyes going wide.

The Kaiser allowed himself to be pushed away, if only to keep tensions down. "Now, Davis, don't get too upset. Everything isn't so bad. You and I have been very happy the last few years. We can stay that way, Davis. You and I can stay happy in this world we made. You loved it before. You can learn to love it again."

"Years?!" Davis repeated, starting to breathe quickly. "Are you out of your mind?!" Davis shouted, suddenly bolting to his feet and stumbling away from the Kaiser. "My parents probably think I'm dead or something..." he breathed, running his hands up into his hair. "How could you keep me here this long?!"

"It wasn't so bad. You parents still had the girl, right? Your sister? I'm sure she was a good child for them. You were needed here." The Kaiser smiled sweetly. "Sure, at first I wanted to punish you, torture you for all the humiliation you put me through, but things changed after a while. You obeyed me so well and loved me so faithfully. Even I grew to love you, Davis. None of that has to change. You love it here. You eat well, you bathe in luxury, you even sleep with me. I gave you that land because you're so well behaved. I can give you more wonderful things, Davis."

Davis bit his lip so hard that it started to bleed a little. He breathed hard and looked down, meaning to catch sight of his feet, but instantly becoming aware of something else. He saw his elbow first, hand still in his hair, and something didn't seem right. His skin was darker, and his arm was thicker. He let go of his hair to look at his arm, and gasped when he saw the scars that marred the upper side. He had soon pulled up his pant leg and his shirt, finding all sorts of marks and bruises. Some of them weren't physical, but sexual. It made him feel sick. "But you did this too me too, didn't you?!" he accused, balling his hand up into a fist.

"You always liked it," the Kaiser insisted. "You said so yourself."

"I haven't said anything!" Davis argued coldly. "The last thing I even remember was being twelve and going to sleep in my bed." He looked around the metal walls of the citadel and backed up a few more paces, now both hands fists. "There better still be a way for me to get home."

The Kaiser followed in step, reaching out. "Davis, don't do this." He smiled again, warm but hardly comforting. "Just give it all a try."

When the Kaiser stepped forward, Davis took two steps back. "How do I get home?!" he repeated, louder this time.

The boy just shook his head. "I'm very disappointed in you, Davis." The Kaiser moved forward quickly, faster than he seemed capable of, and grabbed Davis' arm. He pulled the spiral out and shoved it back onto the boy's arm. He watched as he struggled mentally. It didn't take long. When red-brown eyes blinked at him, the Kaiser just smiled sadly. "I'm afraid it didn't work, Davis."

"Oh," Davis said in his once more monotone voice, casting his eyes downward to the floor. "I'm sorry, master."

"It's not your fault, Davis." The Kaiser sighed. "Give your master a kiss, Davis. It will cheer me up."

"Yes, master," Davis said, lifting his hands to gently cup the Kaiser's face. The guilt was obvious in his expression, but he washed it away to close his eyes and kiss the Kaiser's lips.

The Kaiser accepted the kiss, even giving back a bit. When he pulled back he was smiling. "At least you didn't run away. You're still here. That makes me happy."


	5. Thinking Place

The Kaiser was quiet for a while, just standing in that room with Davis. Indigo eyes looked up to meet mahagony. "Was that Flymon ever caught?"

Davis nodded his head, one thumb moving across the side of the Kaiser's cheek. "Yes, master. It's down in the cells now."

"Excellent. I want it brought downstairs. Make sure its legs are shackled." The Kaiser moved some stray hairs behind his ear, standing up straight, composing himself. "I have some attitude adjustments to make."

"Yes, master," Davis said, removing his hands and stepping back before he bowed his head and then proceeded to go downstairs to fetch the Flymon.

The Kaiser went up to his room to change. When he joined Davis, they were in the same grand torture room Davis was first violated four years ago. Heavy boots hit the floor. Leather pants, a tight leather shirt, and leather gloves, all squeaking slightly against his skin. The thick leather whip hung from his hip. Midnight blue hair was pulled back even tighter than usual, done up in a low bun, like a naughty secretary. "Is everything in order, Davis?"

Davis stood off to the side of the room, like Wormmon once had. His hands were folded behind his back and his legs spread just slightly, head up. When the Kaiser entered the room, red-brown eyes glanced over him quickly before he said, "Yes, master."

"Excellent." He approached the Flymon that was chained down. It was still resistant despite the ring on its neck. "You can't watch where you're flying?" The Digimon didn't respond, probably couldn't, and just buzzed loudly. "There's no way you couldn't have seen me. Not with how low you were. And there's no way you don't know who I am. If you don't, for some impossible reason, then I guess you need to be taught." The Kaiser released the whip, drew it back, and unleashed his fury on the giant insect. Davis just watched with passive eyes. He licked his lips slightly, and as he watched the Flymon being whipped, one of his feet began to shuffle. And then he unclasped his hand to touch at the spiral on his arm, shifting to his other foot as he inhaled slightly. "You stupid insect!" he growled. "I realize your brain is probably the size of a walnut, but you still have one! Use it!" The Flymon screeched and thrashed against the chains. Its fur began coming off in tufts as the whip struck again and again. Still the Kaiser did not let up. He would teach it the ultimate lesson. Soon the Digimon was too weak to struggle and it sank to the floor where it cried out in pain. The whip lashed out, tearing its wings and marring its body. The Kaiser just kept shouting in a rage, sweat dripping from his face, his whipping arm flexed enough to show the slight muscle tone under pale flesh. Insect... the word had an air of familiarity about it that Davis just couldn't quite place. He continued to watch, shuffling his foot and touching the spiral with the tips of his fingers. And after a while of watching and listening to the Flymon cry out in pain, Davis actually began to flinch himself when the hits landed. Eventually, after a long and painful wait, the Flymon died. With one last strike of the whip, it scattered into pixels, which fell to the floor to gather back into a DigiEgg. "Have that taken to the hatchery," he ordered to a Gazimon who'd been standing by having helped Davis chain the Flymon down in the first place. The Kaiser walked over to Davis, breathing heavily while trying to brush back the hairs that had fallen loose. "What's the matter with you?" he asked, giving the boy a strange look.

"N-nothing, master," Davis said, shaking his head and letting go of the spiral, crossing his hands behind his back again. "I just... recognized a word you said, that's all."

"Oh?" One dark eyebrow raised. "And what would that be?"

"Insect."

"And how did that word make you feel?"

Davis swallowed a bit and shook his head. "Not good, master."

The Kaiser pulled his gloves off and threw them in Davis' face. "Tch. Pathetic." He then turned and began walking away. Davis seemed confused, catching the gloves as they fell from his face into his hands. He stared at them for a moment before he turned to trot after the Kaiser. "That which breaks us only makes us stronger, Davis," he said as he went. "Instead of being weak with whatever memory you have, use it to make yourself better."

"I'm sorry, master," Davis apologized as he continued to follow. "I just... think I remember you saying it to me, that's all. I'll forget about it soon, master."

"Your memory is good." The Kaiser didn't bother looking back as he spoke. "I did call you that. Quite a few times, actually. That's all you were to me at the beginning. I had a lot of hatred for you back then. You were still the enemy. If it helps, I would not call you that these days."

Davis was quiet for a moment, but soon nodded and smiled. "Alright. Thank you, master," he said.

"Was the word the only thing that bothered you, Davis?"

"I don't know..." Davis said with a frown, following the Kaiser a bit closer. "The spiral feels a bit funny, master. It gives me a heavy feeling in my chest."

"Oh?" Dark eyes looked over his shoulder this time. "Has that happened before?"

"Not that I can remember..." Davis said, loosely grasping at the fabric of his shirt.

"Is it a physical pain? Like it's hurting you?"

"It hurts, but I am sure nothing is damaged, master," Davis responded, frowning as he looked down the front of his shirt. "There is no gash or puncture wound. It's from inside."

The Kaiser finally stopped and turned to face Davis. "Does it feel like a heart attack?" He wasn't sure if it could be something that bad. The spiral on Davis was strong and could have physical affects on the boy. It was a real possibility, so he needed to check this out. Slender fingers touched Davis' neck, feeling for the pulse.

"I don't know, master," Davis responded. Everything about him seemed normal, and nothing more was happening. "It's nothing to worry yourself over, master. It's just an ache."

"If you're sure." The Kaiser pulled his hand back. Those dark eyes kept watching Davis for a few more seconds before he turned around and resumed his steady pace. "I have some work to do, Davis. You'll have to entertain your self for a while."

"...Can I go to my thinking place, master?" Davis asked quietly.

"Of course. I created it so you could there whenever you got bored or wanted to be alone."

"Thank you, master," Davis said, bowing his head before he looked around for the proper direction to go. Finally finding the correct hallway, he took his own path, still clutching oddly at the front of his shirt. The Kaiser watched Davis go. He found the physical behavior a bit odd, but just shrugged it off in the end. Wormmon had been going on about his daily wanderings when he heard only one set of footsteps coming down the hall. He was surprised to see the boy wandering alone. Davis was never alone. There used to be a time when Wormmon was always at Ken's side, but he became more independent over the years. He still loved his boy dearly, but he'd learned where he stood. He was struck with the mild temptation to seek Ken out, but Davis was better, less violent company. So that's who he followed. Davis kept walking, heading down to where the Digimon that the Kaiser rode were kept. He went over to the Gaogomon he'd ridden to the acres of land the last time and began to prepare to leave, when he only then noticed Wormmon following him. He turned around, red-brown eyes looking curiously down at the Digimon. Still, he simply greeted him, saying, "Hello, Wormmon."

"Hello, Davis. Where are you off to? It's a bit late to be going out."

"I'm going to my thinking place. Master has given me a few acres and has turned it into my thinking place for me," Davis explained.

"Well that was certainly a kind gesture on Ken's part." Wormmon looked at the Gaogomon and then back at Davis. "Could I ask permission to accompany you?"

"Sure," Davis said, smiling. He offered his arms to pick Wormmon up, and actually placed the little green Digimon on his shoulder as he hopped up onto the Gaogomon. And soon enough, they were riding over the sandy landscape towards the generated sloping valley that the Kaiser had created for Davis.

Wormmon held onto Davis' shoulder as they rode. He remembered when he used to hang on Ken's shoulder. Those were happier days. Once through the static barrier, the little worm looked around the place with interest and admiration. "You have a lovely imagination, Davis. I can see why you like thinking here."

"I didn't imagine it. I remembered it," Davis explained, as he at once found a seat by the edge of the river. "But... master made it for me and it isn't exactly like the place I remember thinking at. I need to earn any changes I want to make."

"I see..." Wormmon scurried up to sit beside Davis. "Ken is very kind to you, though, isn't he?"

"Yes, master is great to me," Davis said, only to sigh and place his head in his hand. "I wish I was the same way."

"I believe you're selling yourself short, Davis. I don't think Ken would reward you so handsomely if you weren't so good to him," Wormmon insisted.

"But..." Davis looked over at the Digimon with a frown. "Master took off my spiral today and I tried to run away from him."

Wormmon's pincers clicked together nervously. "Your mind is different when you have the spiral on, Davis."

"Why?" Davis asked, frowning. "Why do I love master with it, but I can't without it? I think it makes him sad that I can't."

"The spiral inspires devotion in you," Wormmon explained. This kind of information was dangerous to divulge, but he didn't care. It was another chance to maybe set everything right. "It's basically mind control, Davis."

"Mind control?" Davis asked, putting a hand on his head. Red-brown eyes glanced at the river, and then up at the forced night sky. "Isn't this the way I'm supposed to be?"

Wormmon shook his head. "No. This isn't the real you at all, Davis. Everything you feel for the Ken isn't real. All those thoughts and feelings have been implanted by the spiral. Why do you suppose all the Digimon now obey Ken's every word? The dark spiral is an evil device Ken created to make everyone love him."

"An evil device..." Davis murmured, his hand coming again to grip at the spiral. "So... it's not real? None of it?" he asked Wormmon, sounding crestfallen.

His antenna drooped. "Ken's love for you is real, but I'm afraid your love for him is not." Wormmon rested his claws on Davis' leg. "The original purpose of the spiral was to keep you submissive while Ken tortured you. If you didn't run or fight back, he could do anything he wanted to you."

Davis frowned at Wormmon, and picked him up in his hands and placed the Digimon in his lap. Davis had gained an affection for the little green Digimon, especially with the loss of DemiVeemon's company. He actually even began to scratch behind the drooped antenna. "I see..." he said quietly, breathing a long, outward sigh as he looked at the water lazily running by. "What am I really like, Wormmon?"

"You are very energetic, Davis. You are full of hope and life and joy. You're very determined to always do the right thing, and you fight tooth and nail to make sure there is justice. You like to make jokes and be with your friends. You like to show off, which sometimes gets you in trouble, but you like the attention." Wormmon settled comfortably in Davis' lap. "You used to play soccer, before Ken got to you. You were team captain and one of the best players. You could run faster than anyone. You had a great sense of humor and liked making other people smile. You were a great friend, Davis. The other children were devastated to lose you."

Davis was frowning as he stroked his hand down the Digimon's green skin. "I'm not like that at all now," he observed. He looked around the spot where they sat, something like his memory but still not quite the same. "Wormmon, is there any way for me to get home?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, Davis," Wormmon warbled sadly. "All the gates have been destroyed. Not even Ken can go home now."

Davis looked pensive, his red-brown eyes filled with thought. Again he glanced at the moon as he continued to run his fingers down the ridges along Wormmon's back. Normally, when told something in his enslaved state, Davis would accept it and move on. But after a few quiet moments, he said, "There has to be a way."

"Ken won't like it," he warned.

"I... I realize that, Wormmon," Davis said quietly. "I just... I don't know. Something's wrong," he said, unable to put into words exactly how he was feeling.

Wormmon turned slightly to look up at the boy. "Something's wrong? Like what?"

"I feel like something is missing, but I don't know what. I think something happened when master removed the spiral." He touched the dark metal again. "The person who I really am has been sleeping for so long, but once it came off, he woke up and now he's awake inside me, so I feel like something's wrong... Does that make sense, Wormmon?"

The little green Digimon nodded. "You feel like your life isn't what it's supposed to be."

"Yes, I guess that's it," Davis said, nodding. "And I think I'm worried, too."

Wormmon touched his claws to Davis' arm. He was starting to find hope in all of this. "Why are you worried, Davis? You can tell me. Just take your time. What has you worried?"

Davis seemed a little floored at first, biting his lip and fingering the spiral with one hand. But Wormmon's prompting questions finally dragged an answer out of him. "My family," he finally responded, almost breathlessly, as if the realization surprised him. "And... my... my friends. Because they're probably also worried about me..."

"That's good, Davis," he said calmly, supportively. "Keep those thoughts with you. The memory of your friends and family are what are going to get you out of here. Maybe this will help, too. Wait here." Wormmon scurried outside the barrier, adjusted the console to his own height, and changed the settings of the little world inside. When he went back in, all the organic components were gone and replaced by the tiled stone, stretch of cityscape, and tall buildings of Odaiba. "This is it, isn't it, Davis?"

"Yes... yes it is," Davis breathed, looking up at the tall buildings and managing a grin. He recognized it. He really recognized the place he was seeing. Nothing about it was foreign like the last image. He looked over his shoulder as the green Digimon approached. "Thank you, Wormmon."

Wormmon smiled in his own way and bent his head. "You're welcome, Davis. You deserve it. You really do."

"I think I can think this all out now," Davis said with a smile. Davis gestured back to his lap, offering Wormmon a place to curl up comfortably while Davis drifted off into thought, looking out across the man-made looking harbor. Wormmon just nodded again and went to curl up in Davis' lap. Davis had a warm lap, for sure, but it wasn't the same. Ken's lap felt safe, comfortable, like home. Wormmon wanted nothing more than for his boy to hold him again, like he used to. Maybe now he and Davis could escape to this place together, and he would teach the teen about what Ken used to be like. Maybe together, they might stand a chance at setting everything right again.


	6. His Desire to Be Real

Time passed, and Davis seemed to change over that length of time. He slowly became more independent, seeing things that reminded him of home or sparked him recalling more and more memories. The spiral kept him submissive and loyal to the Kaiser, but the gears were definitely turning inside his head. He often went to his thinking place and usually invited Wormmon along, and they'd talk about tons of different things or just sit in comfortable silence, staring at the water or the moon, or its broken reflection on the glassy surface. Whenever Davis came back from thinking, he always brought with him a new memory he'd recalled or new thoughts about whatever topic had been their topic of discussion for the night. Tonight, he returned to an empty bedroom, edging his way inside and going to discard his clothing into the bottom of the closet and then climb into his side of the bed. "Did you think I wouldn't figure it out?" A voice spoke through the darkness of the room. Apparently it wasn't as empty as Davis had thought. The Kaiser was an observant man. He'd noticed all those little changes in his slave; the way Davis seemed to be thinking more, staring off, or not participating in a conversation. This new terrible behavior needed to be rectified. "Do you think I'm stupid, Davis?"

"Nope, I don't think you're stupid, master," Davis responded in a light tone that was also new as he sat on top of the sheets, playing with his thumbs as he glanced around the room, trying to locate the other boy.

There came the heavy sound of clunking boots, but he still had yet to appear out of the shadows. "What were my instructions in regards to your plot of land, Davis?"

"I didn't touch the console, master," Davis said, putting his hand on his chest. It was the truth, technically.

"Those were not my instructions!" A loud crack and the whip struck from the shadows, lashing at Davis' right arm. "What were my instructions, Davis? Prove to me there was no miscommunication and that you aren't as dim as I think you are."

"Agh!" Davis cried out, at once gripping the skin that the whip hit. "Th-that I'd have to earn any changes I wanted to make."

"So you did hear me when I said that. You see, I was starting to think that maybe you had shit in your ears that day. You didn't have shit in your ears, did you, Davis?"

"No, master, I didn't," Davis responded with a frown.

"So then why, Davis, have there been changes made to your land?! I was quite clear, wasn't I? You told me you understood! You told me you would earn those changes with good behavior!" The whip struck out again and hit Davis' left arm. "You were so thankful. What happened to all that gratitude, Davis? Maybe I'm spoiling you. Is that it? Have I spoiled you, Davis? And now you don't know the worth of a fair reward? Answer me!"

Davis hissed in pain again, shutting his eyes against the whip. "I-I don't know, master..."

"Well then maybe I should answer for you." Finally the Kaiser emerged from the shadows. He was dressed all in black from head to toe. Only his face could be seen. The rest was tight, menacing leather. Again his hair was pulled back tight, almost painfully so. And his eyes... Dark indigo eyes were wild with rage and loathing. "You are an ungrateful, spoiled brat!" he shouted and whipped Davis across the chest. "You knew good and well what my expectations were, and yet you went behind my back anyway and disobeyed my rules! You were bad, Davis! You were very bad!" Again he whipped the tan flesh. Davis cried out in pain, scrambling back on the mattress and pressing his back against the headboard. He grit his teeth, but didn't answer, just sort of stared back at the Kaiser, tears stinging at his eyes. "Don't you have something to say?" he growled darkly.

"I want to go home."

The Kaiser just stared at Davis in silence. Soon he started to shake, eyes widening, and his face turned red slightly. "You what!?" he screeched.

"I want to go home, master," Davis repeated.

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" The boy was shaking his head violently. "You are home, Davis!"

"I want to go home..." Davis said a third time, sounding tired and sad and all sorts of other things that would normally never seep into his voice. "I want to go home..."

"Stop it!" The Kaiser was suddenly on the bed. He grabbed Davis about the shoulders and shook him. "Stop saying that! You're already home! This is your home! I am your family! Stop saying such foolish, terrible things!"

Davis let himself be tossed back and forth, only to be straightened up again and have tears streaking his cheeks. "If that's true..." Davis murmured, "Why do you control my mind, master?"

"Because you won't love me if I don't!" he answered, voice cracking.

"Are you happy with that, master?" Davis asked. "Are you happy to have my love, even when it's not real? I'm not happy that I don't really love you."

"It's better than you hating me." Tears started to threaten his own eyes. "Here... Here, we'll make it real..." The Kaiser pulled off his gloves and boots, hands shaking the whole time, and cast them aside. Next his shirt was pulled off and then his hair taken down. "See? See how vulnerable I become for you? This is real, isn't it?" He drew himself up against the other boy. "We can still make it work, Davis."

Davis looked like he was going to say something else, but he lost his breath when the Kaiser pulled them close together. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop the tears so he could speak to the other boy properly, but he soon realized his contacts had slipped from his eyes. He wiped them away, and when his eyes opened again, the harsh, glowing red was back. "Is it real, master?" he asked in a whisper.

The Kaiser was shaking again. "Why are you doing this?!" he screamed and slapped Davis across the face. "Why do you have to be ruining everything?! You're supposed to love me! Love me, Davis! Damn it! I want you to fucking love me!"

"I do love you, master," Davis said, touching the spot that was now turning red with a vicious hand print. "But I want to be real."

"Fine! You want it to be real?!" The Kaiser gripped the spiral. His nails dug into tan flesh and left thin bloody trails behind as he ripped the device off. The dark spiral was flung across the room where it hit the wall and broke into a number of pieces. "There! There, are you happy now?! How does being real feel now, Davis!" The pale boy was sobbing. It was so useless.

Davis blinked in confusion, the red glow dying in his eyes and leaving behind his brown ones. He was silent for a moment, gathering his bearings, before he realized who was sitting in front of him and gasped. But, instead of pushing him off and running away, he found a question on his lips that he didn't expect. "Why're you crying?"

"Because now you hate me and you're going to leave me!" the Kaiser answered, scrubbing fruitlessly at his eyes with the back of his hands.

Davis looked surprised, knitting his eyebrows together in confusion. "Why do you care?"

"Because you're all I have!" Dark eyes swimming in tears looked up at Davis. "I wanted you to l-love me..."

"Is... is that why you did all of this?" Davis asked, gesturing to the mark on his arm that the spiral had left.

The Kaiser shook his head weakly. "It wasn't at first, but then... then you started saying such wonderful things to me, Davis. You were giving me attention no one else would in the real world. No matter how cruel or crazy I got, you were there. You held me and kissed me and told me you loved me. You wanted only to make me happy. And I... I loved you too." He choked on a soft sob. "Something happened, though, after I took the spiral off that first time. Something must have clicked in your brain and you started to remember things. Your desire to be real... was suddenly greater than your desire to love me."

Davis put a hand on his head. Now that was something he wasn't expecting. He'd seen the scars and cuts adoring his body and assumed he'd spent four year sonly being abused and tortured for the Kaiser's sick amusement. He never would have guessed that it was something as deep and needy as this. Suddenly, his hate for the Kaiser's evil, his disgust with his actions, and his worry over how long he'd been kept captive were all overridden by his true nature; caring. He put a hand on the Kaiser's shoulder hesitantly, starting to rub his back as the other boy sobbed. "Sorry," he said simply.

"You should be," he said through soft crying. "You made me soft, Davis. You made me care enough about you to set you free. It's horrible. Especially since you'll want to leave now."

"Well, I do want to go home..." Davis said, "But I don't want to leave you here like this, either."

"Tch, don't pretend you care." The Kaiser pushed away from Davis at that point. He got off the bed, legs feeling weak beneath him, and started out of the room. He gestured for Davis to follow with a wave of his hand.

Davis was hesitant at first, but soon got to his feet and trotted after the other boy. "Hey, just because I don't like what you did doesn't mean I like seeing anyone cry because of me," he protested as he gained on his stride.

"Oh, right, now you feel guilty. Spare me. Your pity sickens me." The Kaiser led Davis to a small room with what appeared to be a tall mirror on the wall. He walked up to the console embedded in a podium and began pressing some keys. Where there once was a dull reflection of them, the glass began to flicker with an image. Eventually, Davis would be seeing the streets of Odaiba, full of people out walking on a sunny summer day. "There..." He gestured to the mirror. "It's the only gate back home. I programmed it myself. Just step through and you'll come out of the wall in an alley. No one will see you and you can just walk onto the street like any other one of those worthless gnats." The Kaiser didn't look at Davis as he spoke. He kept his head turned down and away, his long hair hiding his eyes as it draped over his body in thick strands. All he did was wait for the pop of static so he could close the gate and be all alone once more.


	7. Chibomon

Davis looked into the gate, seeming pretty awed at it as it began to function. He leaned close to it, but then leaned back on his heels. "Why'd you program a gate back?" he asked in an obnoxiously curious voice.

"In case I ever got bored with this world," he answered truthfully. "Or in case this world ever started to break down and I needed a way out."

"Uh-huh..." Davis said, frowning. "I know it's been a really long time, but you could still set everything right."

"I haven't done anything wrong."

"If you did everything right, you'd be happy with your work." He glanced at the window that was sitting outside in the hallway. "But you're not really, are you?"

Dark eyes followed that gaze to the window. "I'm very pleased with my work," the Kaiser insisted. "What makes me unhappy is not having anyone to share it with."

"Everyone would want to share it with you if you weren't trying to destroy and kill everything," Davis pointed out.

"I haven't done that!" the Kaiser suddenly snapped. "I won the game! I collected all the pawns and made them mine! I beat the other players! I did what I was supposed to do!"

"You killed everyone's Digimon, kidnapped me, and made the Digital World a wasteland," Davis countered with a frown. "That doesn't sound like a win at all."

"Sh-Shut up!" Fresh tears fell over his cheeks and he thrust a finger at the gate. "Why don't you just g-go! It's what you wa-wanted. So... So go...!"

"I need my parting gift," Davis said, shrugging. "Can't leave without the DigiEggs."

"No! They're... They're mine!" the boy argued. "I won them fair and square!"

"They're ours," Davis said, shaking his head. "You stole them."

"You lost them!"

Davis crossed his arms, shrugging his shoulders. "You can give them back or I can take them back. I'm not going back without them."

"Damn it, Davis!" The Kaiser stomped his foot. "Stop being so damn difficult all the time!"

"But then I wouldn't be me," Davis said, putting his hand on his chest. "What, don't like the real me?"

"Fine! You... You want your stupid egg back so badly? Then come get it!" The Kaiser ran out of the room at that point, racing down the halls so he could beat Davis to the trophy room. Once there, he opened the glass case, grabbing the prized blue and white egg, and raised it high over his head. Ready to smash it into the ground, destroying the process of rebirth for the Digimon inside. Davis gasped and ran after him, getting to the room a few seconds after the Kaiser did. He stood frozen in the doorway for a second before gritting his teeth and suddenly rushing forward, smashing his foot into the Kaiser's shin in the same sliding tackle as the one he used against him in soccer all of those years ago. And when the Kaiser dropped the egg, Davis was laying on the ground to grab it before it hit his chest. But he wasn't going to be bested so easily. The Kaiser dove on top of Davis, catching the egg instead, and then rolled off the boy. He ran to the other side of the room where he glared at his rival. Just as he was about to spit some vial words of hatred, the DigiEgg in his hands started to glow. Even after all these years, the Digimon inside still knew Davis' presence, and its desire to be with its human was undeniably strong. The Kaiser yelped when it hatched, leaving a tiny blue blob with a head tail in his hands. "What the hell?" Only he was cut off by a flurry of bubbles in his face. "Augh! You horrible little cretin!" he shouted and chucked the baby across the room.

"Chibomon!" Davis gasped, scrambling to his feet to again dive and catch the little blue Digimon in his hands.

The tiny Digimon had squeezed its eyes shut, ready to hit the wall or floor, but instead he was wrapped in a pair of strong, warm hands. When his eyes blinked open, he immediately recognized the teenager holding him. "Davis!" he squeaked happily as his head tail wiggled. "You finally came for me!" Tiny tears formed in its little pink and black eyes. "I knew... I knew you would come for me some day."

Davis smiled widely, bringing the Digimon to his face to press his cheek against him fondly. "I'm sorry I took so long, Chibomon. I missed you." He then looked over his shoulder and glared daggers at the Kaiser. "What's your problem!? He's a baby! Last I checked, you don't throw babies!"

"He sprayed acid bubbles in my eyes!" the Kaiser sneered.

"'Cuse you scared him," Davis said with a frown, standing up with Chibomon cradled in his hands.

"Digimon Kaiser!" Chibomon chirped bravely, like he was ready to fight right then and there.

"You watch your mouth, you little whelp. I can turn you back into an egg faster than you can blink!"

"Not as long as I'm here," Davis responded, putting one hand over Chibomon protectively. "Now just gimmie the rest and I'll leave."

"Fat chance." He moved back to the case, pressed a few buttons, and the glass reformed around the eggs. "You have yours. That's all you need."

"I'm not going back to my friends without their Digimon, too," Davis said, gritting his teeth.

"Like they're even your friends anymore!" the pale boy spat.

Davis eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Wh... what?"

"You were their fearless leader, right? You were the one they could always count on, but you disappeared. You vanished without a trace, leaving them all alone. Without you they fell apart. You let them down, Davis. You failed them. What makes you think they'll take you back now? Hell, they've probably forgotten all about you by now anyway. It's the only way for them to sooth the pain of betrayal and disappointment. If you went back now, they'd crucify you."

Davis looked taken aback, his jaw agape like a fish gasping for a breath. He soon shook his head violently, looking determined as he said, "They wouldn't do that! It's not my fault I left. It's yours!"

"How do they know that?" the Kaiser asked and crossed his arms. "For all they know, you chickened out and ran away. Now that the coast is clear, it's the perfect chance for you to go crawling back with your tail between your legs."

"Davis isn't a coward!" Chibomon squeaked from between the boy's hands.

"Tch. Good luck getting them to believe that."

"Where could I have been hiding?!" Davis argued. "I wasn't in the real world, that's for sure. Are you implying they'd think I lived here without you noticing me all this time?!"

"I think you're over estimating the power of loyalty and friendship."

"Last time I fought you that I can remember, the power of friendship kicked your sorry butt," Davis pointed out sourly.

The Kaiser made an equally sour face in return. "If your friends are so great, then I'm sure they'll forgive you even without the return of their Digimon."

"I'm still not gonna abandon the Digimon here!" Davis argued, putting Chibomon up on his shoulder and balling his hands into fists. "You'll just keep them in a glass case, or, if they hatch, throw them at walls!" He looked up at the little Digimon on his shoulder. "You ready, Chibomon?"

"You bet, Davis!" it chirped bravely, puffing itself up with courage.

The Kaiser just sighed. "You can't break open the case, you idiot. It's reinforced, and only I know the code to open it. Have fun wasting your Digimon's energy, though. You'll be the one to turn it back into an egg."

"I'm not aiming for the case," Davis said, cracking his knuckles.

He scoffed. "Really? We're going to fight? Fine. Have it your way." The Kaiser moved in swiftly, ready to land a strike on Davis' left side, but Chibomon was there with its Acid Bubble attack to blind the pale boy.

"Auuh!" His hands went to his eyes on reflex. "You'll pay for that!"

Davis then swept his leg across the Kaiser's shins, trying to knock him to the ground. "I don't really want to fight you, Kaiser, but if you won't give me the DigiEggs, you don't leave me a lot of choice."

But he jumped back at the last second. "Then it looks like you and I are going to dance, Davis." The Kaiser smiled in that way of his which was friendly in a sickening sort of way. "You used to love dancing with me. You were a little clumsy, but you got the hang of it eventually."

"Stop stalling!" Chibomon barked in its tiny voice.

Davis growled and launched forward again, trying to deck the Kaiser clean across the face. Obviously, trying to be nice was not going to work.

This time Davis landed a hit. The impact sent the Kaiser stumbling backward. He seemed dazed for a moment before he just started to laugh. "How brutish of you, Davis." His feet began to move, stepping across the floor, almost graceful. In one swift turn the Kaiser was behind Davis where he landed a good kick to the teen's spine. "Remember your posture, Davis."

Davis hissed in pain and stumbled forward, but noticed something strange. It didn't hurt as much as he was expecting. He rubbed at his back slightly and felt all of the scar tissue there, and frowned a bit as he did. Banishing the thought, he spun around again and tried to grab the Kaiser by the collar. "How often did you hurt me?" he asked suddenly.

"Any time you were bad," he answered with a chuckle. "And given how stupid you are, I'd say at least three times a week."

Davis frowned at first, but soon enough a smile cracked across his face. Then he chuckled. Sputtered. And soon he was laughing hysterically. "Punch me!" he suddenly demanded. "Go on, your best shot! Hit me!"

"Davis, no!" Chibomon squealed in horror. "Don't let him hurt you on purpose!"

The Kaiser grinned. "You should listen to your little friend, Davis."

"No, go on, do it," Davis insisted.

The Kaiser just shrugged. "All right, but you asked for it. Stupid as always." He pulled back his fist and threw it forward right into Davis' eye.

Davis put his hand over his eye, but soon he began to sputter into laughter again. "Oh man," he gasped, looking at the Digimon on his shoulder. "Chibomon, my pain tolerance is amazing! That barely hurt!"

Chibomon frowned and wriggled grumpishly. "Well I still don't like him hitting you."

Meanwhile, dark indigo eyes had gone wide. "Wh...What? No. No no no, that can't be!" He thrust his knee into Davis' stomach next. "Go down!"

Davis doubled over, holding his stomach, only to start laughing again. He looked up, tears in his eyes not from pain, but from laughing too hard. "Try again, Kaiser!"

"Tough guy, huh?" The Kaiser reached into his back pocket, pulling out a tazer he'd had from earlier for Davis' punishment. "How about this!" The twin conductors were pressed ruthlessly up against the other boy's chest, sending out a powerful shock of electricity.

"Agh!" Finally, Davis fell to his knees. But that was it. He cried out and hit his knees, but then he just sort of shook his head, eyes wide. "Wow, okay, that one kinda hurt."

The Kaiser stumbled back, finally free from Davis' hold. "You think you can beat me? I'm the game master! This is my world, little boy!" He snapped his fingers and the faithful whip downloaded into his hand. "No one can beat me at my own game!" The Kaiser cracked the whip and it struck Davis full on.

Davis hissed when the whip lashed against his skin, but it was so scarred and numbed to pain that he just flashed a toothy grin. "Nope, we're back to baby hits," he taunted with a smirk, getting to his feet again.

How was this happening? He'd struck Davis with this whip not an hour ago and the boy had been crying out in pain. Was it all a show? Had Davis just started to pretend it hurt just to please him? No... No, that couldn't be it. "You're lying. You know how much I hate lying, Davis!" He cracked the whip again and again. The thick tip hit the tan teen's stomach, arm, chest, and cheek. Each strike seemed just as ineffective as the last though. The Kaiser just started shouting, whipping Davis again and again.

Finally, Chibomon couldn't take it anymore. His boy might not be in pain, but he couldn't stand to see his boy be hurt. "Stop it! Leave Davis alone!" the tiny Digimon squeaked before leaping off Davis' shoulder to take the brunt of another lashing. It screamed in pain as it fell, skidding and tumbling across the floor into a stop over in the corner.

"Chibomon!" Davis gasped, rushing over to the little Digimon and picking him up off the floor. "Chibomon, why'd you do that?" he asked, eyes wide. "I was fine..."

"I'm supposed to protect you..." he whimpered. "Just because you couldn't feel it, doesn't mean the Kaiser wasn't hurting you. Look... you're bleeding," he said, eyes on Davis' chest where the skin had be knicked open. "If I don't protect you, then I fail you as your Digimon, Davis."

"Chibomon..." Davis sighed, holding the Digimon close to his chest. He then turned to the Kaiser and frowned at him. "Do we need to go through this again, or will you just give me the DigiEggs so I can leave?"

The Kaiser was standing there, slightly slumped over and breathing heavily. Hair had falled over the side of his face again, leaving only one eye visible. It looked from Chibomon, cradled so gently, to Davis, to the other DigiEggs, and then back at Davis. Silence as he swallowed and then shook his head, whispering, "No..."

"No, we don't need to go through this again, or no, you're not going to give them to me?"

"I will never... give you... those eggs."

Davis felt about ready to pull his hair out. "Damn it, Kaiser! This isn't funny! You tortured me and kept me prisoner for four years! You made me miss my entire adolescence, I went four years without going to school, you probably tore my family apart, and you won't even atone for any of that by giving me those DigiEggs?! All of that, and you expected to be able to get me to love you without the mind control?!" He narrowed his eyes at the other boy. "Now I can see why you knew you needed the spiral. You're such an uncaring, selfish bastard that there's no way I'd ever do anything less than hate you otherwise."

A loud thunk resonated throughout the room when the whip was dropped. The Kaiser stared back at Davis, looking completely broken and hollow inside. Those words pierced his heart and made his blood run cold. So, that's how it was going to be, huh? "Well then..." he began quietly, "even if I can't make you love me, I can at least keep you here with me." That said, he wandered out of the room, moving like lost soul through cemetary.

"What now?" Chibomon asked.

"We find my Digivice so you can Digivolve and break open that case. Then we take the eggs home. No matter how long it takes," Davis said, petting his little Digimon's head. "It's gonna be a lot easier to fight back with you by my side again, Chibomon. Together, the Kaiser can't hold us."


	8. Virgin Ears

"Together!" Chibomon repeated bravely. He sat all puffed up and proud in Davis' hand when an unusually loud grumbling sound we heard coming from his tiny body. "Except..." He deflated cutely and pouted. "I'm really hungry after being in my DigiEgg for so long."

"Oh..." Davis said, frowning gently. He looked around the metal walls of the citadel and frowned deeply. "I haven't a clue where the food is in this place..." He stepped out of the room and picked the direction he saw the Kaiser walking towards, looking into rooms, trying to find the kitchen to no avail. As he looked, he glanced down at his little Digimon. "Can you even eat solid food like this?"

"I can eat tiny berries," Chibomon said. "Well... I can chew them, but digesting them is hard. Primary Village always had bottles ready for us and the bigger Digimon would help feed us." He frowned sadly. "I dunno where we'll find a bottle of milk here, though... I'm so hungry, Davis."

"Well, I think it's even less likely that we'll find tiny berries, so..." he sighed, starting to walk a bit faster. He couldn't let his poor Digimon go hungry. "Guess I need to ask someone." It didn't seem like there were any Digimon wandering around, though. If there were any servants working in the citadel, they must have been confined to their chambers for the night. He came to a wing that looked a bit more homey, less like a metal death trap, and knew he was heading into dangerous territory. But he had to get a bottle for Chibomon. He came upon a door, and, cracking it open a bit, spied a bed inside. He swallowed a bit, but finally swung the door the rest of the way open and looked inside.

The room seemed empty until a quiet, broken, almost sad sounding voice asked, "What do you want?" A lump in the sheets shifted around slightly, but he made no move to sit up. The Kaiser just supposed the boy had come to gloat some more or demand the DigiEggs again so he could go home. Which still wasn't going to happen. Over his dead body.

Davis was silent for a moment, but a tiny whimper from Chibomon made him open his mouth to ask, "You wouldn't happen to have any... baby bottles around, would you?"

"I might... What if I do?"

"Well... I kinda need one. For Chibomon."

The Kaiser finally sat up. He was covered with a black robe tied tightly around his waist, and his hair was pulled back again, albeit loose and messy. "What will you do for it?"

Davis sighed. He didn't want to go through with this, but he had to for Chibomon. "I don't know, whaddya want me to do?"

"Come to bed," he answered simply.

Davis bit his lip slightly, looking down at Chibomon. "Okay... I will," he said, looking back up at the Kaiser. "After you help me feed Chibomon."

Chibomon wriggled with another frown. "I'm not that hungry," he said.

The Kaiser sighed. "Can't he wait until morning?"

"No, I'm not gonna let him go hungry overnight," Davis said firmly, putting a finger over Chibomon's lips. He wasn't going to hear it. "He's a baby and he needs to be fed now."

The boy groaned. "You're so stubborn. I hate it." But he threw back the covers and set his bare feet on the floor. "I'm sure there are some in the hatchery. Follow me." The Kaiser led them through the seemingly infinite halls of his citadel until they came upon a room full of unhatched DigiEggs. The only care shown was the small heated nest they were kept in; however, there was a mechanical arm poised over each nest holding a dark ring, ready to latch it onto the baby Digimon once born. Davis looked a bit disgusted at the mechanical arms hovering over the eggs. Baby Digimon were mostly just round, shapeless bodies, anyway. How did the rings even stay on without covering their faces? Davis banished the thought from his mind and stepped past the Kaiser into the room, looking for bottles he was sure even the Kaiser didn't care to know the location of. That's when he noticed a large, feathery Digimon in the corner of the room. It was a giant Swanmon, her eyes glowing red, feeding a bottle to a Punimon who's eyes also glowed red. Ah, the ring latched around one of his little rounded red horns. So that's how it worked for him. Davis cautiously approached the huge Digimon, who soon turned her head to look at him, her feathers ruffling at being disturbed. Davis bit his lip, but pointed to Chibomon as the little blue baby's stomach grumbled again, in hopes that this was all he needed to get his message across. That's when he felt a tug at his pant leg, and looking down, saw a collared Elecmon offering him a bottle. Davis mumbled out a quick thanks, a little wary of those glowing red eyes, but took the bottle, feeling the warm surface between his fingers for a moment before he grinned and offered it to Chibomon.

Chibomon sniffed at the rubber nipple for a second before a wide smile spread over his face. Without wasting another second or word, he latched onto the bottle and began suckling greedily upon the warm liquid nutrition it had to offer. The Kaiser watched all of this with unpassioned eyes. He felt nothing for the baby Digimon sooned to be hatched, only that they be put under control as quickly as possible, fed, evolved, and then sent back out into the world. Davis shuffled back over to the doorway so he could lean against the wall while he fed his Digimon. He remembered, once, having talked to the other Digidestined about how they raised their Digimon from their In-Training forms and watched them become Rookies, and then went on from there. He also heard TK offhandedly mention that he was the only one that got to raise his Digimon from an egg after they defeated Devimon, and how great it was to see him hatch, listen to him learn words as Poyomon, and then Digivolve back into the Tokomon he'd met at the beginning. It had sort of made Davis upset that he'd met Veemon as a Rookie, and not as DemiVeemon or even Chibomon. So, despite the cold steel walls and the Elecmon and Swanmon and Punimon all staring at him with glowing red eyes, and the Kaiser's attitude so foul that he could feel it like an aura radiating into his personal space, Davis still managed a smile to see Chibomon happily drinking the milk from the bottle Davis held for him. "You know..." the Kaiser began, "you could leave it here with Swanmon and Elecmon. They'll take perfectly good care of your Digimon so you don't have to worry about it."

Chibomon suddenly released the bottle with a gasp, leaving a trail of milk down his chin. He looked up at Davis with wide eyes, then over at the red-eyed Digimon, and then back up at Davis. "Don't leave me with them," he squeaked fearfully.

Davis looked torn. On one hand, he didn't want to leave Chibomon with the controlled Digimon, or the dark rings hovering over those nests. On the other hand, he didn't want to have Chibomon in the room with him and the Kaiser, either. He knew that if the Kaiser got violent again Chibomon would just put himself into more danger trying to protect him. "I'm... not sure," he said eventually.

"He'll be safe here," the Kaiser insisted.

"I'll be good!" Chibomon cried.

Davis needed to think. He shook his head and said, "Let me think about it," as he offered the bottle back to Chibomon to finish.

At first Chibomon refused the bottle, but Davis was strong and soon had the nipple back in the tiny Digimon's mouth. Tasting the milk reminded Chibomon of how hungry he was, so he drank again, if not reluctantly. Meanwhile, the Kaiser was now smiling just slightly. "Swanmon and Elecmon know how to tend to baby Digimon. Elecmon used to run Primary Village, after all, and Swanmon has excellent maternal skills. Chibomon would be well taken care of. Then you and I will have more time to ourselves."

Davis swallowed hard, the last of the Kaiser's statements definitely making him feel uncomfortable. Something about that smarmy voice of his made anything sound really unsettling. He had to come up with a plan. He could tell how uncomfortable Chibomon was around the mind controlled Digimon, but he didn't want Chibomon in the room with him and the Kaiser. He couldn't put him through that. But were there any Digimon around that weren't mind controlled? He kept thinking as he fed the little Digimon, when he suddenly said, "I want him to stay with Wormmon."

"Wormmon?" He looked surprised at first, but he quickly forced it away and shrugged. "Wormmon is hardly good company, but I suppose if that's what you want, I can arrange it."

"Good," Davis said with a nod. He knew Wormmon wasn't kept under the spiral's control and was generally good natured because of it. He felt safer leaving Chibomon with him than with any other Digimon in the citadel. And he figured, at least, that once he was full of warm milk Chibomon would fall asleep and wouldn't have to wake up until Davis could get him in the morning.

The Kaiser gestured lazily off to the right. "Wormmon's room is down there. Come back to bed once you've made all the arrangement. And Davis... Don't dawdle." With that he walked away, now bored with what was going on.

Chibomon sooned finished his bottle with a soft burp and a look of total contentment on his face. Even as Davis carried him to Wormmon's, he had to ask, "Why can't I stay with you, Davis?"

"I just don't want to make the Kaiser mad, buddy. We can't fight back yet and I want you to be safe," Davis explained as best as he could. "Besides, Wormmon's nice and he's not controlled by a ring." Davis soon found the room he was looking for and opened the door, cautiously calling, "Hello? Wormmon?"

Soft scurrying could be heard and soon enough Wormmon appeared out from behind a strange looking box. "Davis?" He seemed confused at first. He couldn't believe what he saw. "Davis, is... Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," Davis said, scratching at the back of his head. "It's a long story, I guess." He then glanced down the hall, knowing he couldn't take too long. "Listen, is it okay if Chibomon stays with you?"

Purple eyes went even wider. "Chibomon? Well, yes, of course! He's certainly welcome here. I'll have a nest made up for him in no time." Wormmon began to scurry about, touching this and that, somehow activating a secondary box which was open on one side, allowing access to the straw and cloth nest inside. "You've certainly been busy, haven't you?" he asked.

"Mhm," Davis responded, walking into the room to place Chibomon down inside the second box. "I wish I could stay and talk, Wormmon, but Ken wants me back to do... something or other in exchange for the bottle he gave me for Chibomon."

Wormmon just nodded. "I know it will probably be hard for you. Davis, do you remember anything you and I talked about?"

Chibomon was sad to leave Davis' hands, but his belly was full of milk, the nest was surprisingly warm, and he was soon drifting off to sleep. "Night, Davis..." he squeaked through a yawn.

"Good night, Chibomon," Davis said with a fond smile, petting the top of his Digimon's head until he fell asleep. He then turned to Wormmon with a quirked brow. "We talked about something? When?" he asked.

"In the special thinking place Ken created for you," he answered. Wormmon smiled in that way of his. "I didn't expect you to remember. You really do become someone else with that spiral on. I've been teaching you about your real self, the one you're back to now. Our talks are what inspired you to seek your freedom in the first place. We also talked about Ken and his feelings. About how he really does love you..."

Davis shivered a bit at that, shaking his head. He didn't want to hear about that. "Thanks, Wormmon," he said, reaching out to offer his finger in a handshake with Wormmon's little claws. He smiled as best as he could. "If that's true, you helped me out more than anyone ever has. I really appreciate that."

Wormmon shook Davis' finger. "You don't owe me anything, Davis, and I know the Kaiser doesn't deserve anything after what he did, but..." His antenna lowered a little. "If you find it in your heart to even try... Please help Ken."

Davis still looked a little uncomfortable. "Maybe," he said, standing up. "But if I do it for anyone, it'll be for you. Not for him." And with that, he bowed his head as a final thanks and headed out of the room, heading off towards the Kaiser's room.

"Davis!" The Kaiser proved to have been waiting eagerly for the tan teen to show up. Once Davis was through the door, his pale body was thrown at the other, arms latching around a strong neck while draped against him. "You kept me waiting forever. You're so bad, you know."

Davis instantly froze, throwing his hands up like he'd been expecting to be attacked. "Uh, sorry?" he stammered out. "I wanted to wait for Chibomon to fall asleep."

The Kaiser pouted. "You care more about him than you care about me."

"Well... he is my Digimon," Davis said with a frown. "And my best friend."

"But you and I have been through so much together," he insisted while stroking the back of Davis' neck with his fingertips. "I should be your best friend by now."

"I don't even remember any of that," Davis sighed, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck prickle when the Kaiser touched it.

This made the Kaiser smile. "Then it's like we're both virgins again. Maybe we should celebrate by casting ourselves of it."

Davis gagged, putting a hand over his mouth. "Wait. Wait, wait, wait," he said, cautiously removing his hand to first mouth his question before he managed in a whisper, "I'm not a virgin anymore?"

"Of course not," the boy purred as his hand came around to stroke Davis' chest. "Not for two years now."

"Oh man," Davis breathed, running his hand up into his hair. That was one revelation he really wasn't expecting. How old was he now, fifteen, sixteen? "That's... that's kind of freaky."

"Why?" The Kaiser pouted innocently. "It was your idea in the first place, you know."

"M-my idea?" Davis stammered, only to close his eyes and shake his head. "No, no... it was your crazy idea. Couldn't have been mine."

The Kaiser nodded. "Oh, but it was. You came to me one day, seeming rather enlightened and excited about something, and said you wished to show me something. I told you I didn't have the time right then, but you insisted. You said it would make me very happy." He smiled up at Davis coyly. "You always wanted to make me happy. Well, I decided to humor you and let you show me with wonderful new trick you'd learned. Davis, I must say, you were quite skilled. It was all just a passionate blur of sheets, sweat, moanings, skin, and you hovering over me, making me feel amazing." The Kaiser sighed. "I'll never forget it."

Davis felt a cold sweat break out on one side of his forehead. He did not like the idea that he'd done that at all. He'd never expected to lose his virginity just when he'd become a teenager, much less with a guy and certainly not with the Kaiser. And of course, least likely of all, in a state where he didn't even remember it. Despite the unfavorable circumstances, he was sort of disappointed that he was denied the memory of his first time, regardless of how freakish it was. "Well, I agreed to coming to bed in exchange for Chibomon's bottle, I didn't say anything about doing... that... again."

"I'm sure you'll come around eventually," he sang softly. "Now, off with those clothes so we can go to sleep."

"Do..." Davis started, hesitating before asking, "Do I at least get pajamas?"

"Normally, no." The Kaiser pulled the knot free on his robe, letting it fall away and reveal pale, bare skin. "But neither do I."

Davis choked slightly and cast his eyes at the wall. "I'm keeping my boxers on," he said decidedly.

He just nodded. "I'll allow it." Slender legs sauntered to the bed which he crawled into seductively, slipping beneath the black silk sheets and beckoning Davis hither with the crook of a finger. Davis swallowed heavily. This was going to be hard. He inched over to the bed and took off his shirt and pants, trying to be as blunt about it as possible as he tossed them messily on the floor and almost quite literally jumped into bed rather unceremoniously, laying on his side facing the wall. The Kaiser reached over to turn out the lamp, but the soft violet glow of a nightlight in the corner allowed enough light to make out shapes in the room. "Do you want to know what you said to me, Davis?" the now quiet voice asked through the dark.

"What I said to you... when?" Davis asked, his mouth feeling dry as he kept his eyes on the dark wall, ignoring the light that softly backlit the Kaiser's body.

"Right before I took the spiral off."

Davis exhaled slightly, saying, "Sure, tell me."

The boy swallowed. "You said you weren't happy that your love for me wasn't real. You loved me with the spiral on, but... You wanted the love to be real instead. That's what you said." He was silent for a little while before asking, "Do you still want that, Davis?"

Davis grit his teeth, like he often did, when he heard that. There was just no way those words ever came out of his mouth. No way in hell. Eventually, he gripped his pillow and turned his face into it as he said, "I dunno."

"All right." That was all the Kaiser said before rolling over, away from Davis, and curled up on the very edge of the bed where he fell asleep.


	9. One Chance

Davis never got used to having to sleep in the Kaiser's bed. And what was even worse was that the Kaiser had wandering hands when he slept. Davis usually found himself in very uncomfortable positions when he woke up and had to wriggle out of them without waking the Kaiser in order to go off to Chibomon, who he spent the rest of the day with. He didn't even bother with the Kaiser during the day. After spending the whole evening with him, he really couldn't stand to spend any more time with him. Everything out of the Kaiser's mouth was either suggestive or a taunt. Sometimes Davis and Chibomon spent the day trying to crack the case with the DigiEggs in it, figure out how that portal mirror worked, or find his Digivice and D-Terminal somewhere within the citadel, but it always ended in failure. Still, they tried day after day for weeks. When Davis put Chibomon to bed, he always thanked him and made sure Wormmon was in the room before he trudged off to the Kaiser's room. Tonight was another one of those nights. The Kaiser had been desperate to get Davis back on his side. Even when working on maintaining his new kingdom, Davis was not far from his mind. It was rather difficult when the other teen couldn't remember any of the activities they shared. The Kaiser tried once taking him to a fight at the arena, but Davis was just disgusted at the barbaric nature of the fight. Another failure. How could he possibly rekindle their relationship? Each day he was feeling more and more lonely, and the feeling was eating away at his heart. Tonight was a fresh idea, though, one that might actually provide some results. The Kaiser was in his room, again waiting in the black robe, a small smile on his lips. Davis came into the room grumbling and rubbing his head. Today was a 'break open the glass case' day, and after Chibomon's bubbles once again failed to eat away at the glass, Davis had tried slamming into it head-first. This, of course, didn't go so well. He was just happy he wasn't bleeding. He didn't seem to notice the Kaiser at first, closing the door behind him and falling quiet as he continued to massage the small bump he'd made with his rash actions. Finally, brown eyes glanced up and he caught the grin on the Kaiser's face. Oh, great. "...Hey," he finally offered.

"Hello, Davis," he chirped happily. "I have a surprise for you. Something I think you'll like this time."

"Not like the chained to the wall surprise or the getting tasered surprise?" Davis said sarcastically as he slowly approached the foot of the bed.

The Kaiser laughed light-heartedly, like he just heard a joke. "No, nothing like that. It's something you really enjoyed back when you liked me." He got up from the bed, took Davis' hand, and led him toward the large bathroom doors where Davis' hadn't been allowed to go yet. Davis seemed cautious at first. He wanted to rip his hand from the Kaiser's, but it seemed like a lost cause by now and he just trotted after him. He couldn't deny his curiosity for what exactly could be beyond the doors that was so great, anyway. "Ready?" The doors were pushed open revealing the large lavish bathroom. A wave of comfortable heat hit them, the hot waiting bath the source of said heat. As usual it was overflowing with sweet smelling bubbles. There were even some floating through the air, little liquid rainbows that wandered aimlessly until popping. "You loved taking baths with me," the Kaiser insisted.

"Uh-huh..." Davis said, watching the bubbles drip down the edge of the tub. The tan skinned boy didn't seem too on board with the idea, but the tub was big enough for them to sit at two opposite ends and he hadn't had a bath in far too long, anyway. Normally Davis would be fighting a bath, like when his mother insisted he wash himself free of mud after a soccer game in the rain. But he needed to wash off... Kaiser cooties. So a bath was in order. "Well... okay, I guess."

The Kaiser grinned. "Good. Maybe it'll spark a memory or two." He pulled Davis even further into the bathroom until they were at the steps of the tub. At that point he let go of Davis' hand so the teen could undress himself, since that was probably what he prefered. The pale body was revealed once more as the robe fell to the floor and he slipped into the tub. "Mmmmmm... Nice and warm...." Davis still seemed wary, but soon had discarded his clothing, letting it slip onto the tiled floor before he too was in the water, though he entered more with a splash than a gentle ripple as the Kaiser did. He then shifted over to the corner of the tub away from the Kaiser and let himself sink into the warm water. He had to admit, it felt pretty relaxing. "You're enjoying yourself already." The Kaiser picked up the bar of soap, floated almost silently over to Davis, and picked up his foot to begin washing it.

Davis inhaled sharply, his first instinct to jerk away from the Kaiser's touch. But, after a second, he frowned and asked, "Why're you washing my foot?"

"I always start with your feet," he replied. "You would always let me wash you, Davis. You especially loved for me to wash your back." The soap moved up Davis' calf. "And then you would get to wash me." Davis wanted to jerk his leg away, but he could feel how tightly the Kaiser gripped his skin, willing him to let him finish. So, Davis sighed and leaned back against the edge of the tub, letting the Kaiser wash him. If it'd really make him happy, Davis didn't see the harm in it. Eventually, unintentionally, his eyes slid shut too. The Kaiser was silent as he washed the other boy. It really did make him happy and provided a mild sense of control. He'd missed that. Being in control. The other leg was washed after the first and soon his hand snuck its way between them to gently wash in a very private and sensitive location.

"Ah!" Davis gasped loudly, his eyes snapping open and his face immediately coloring with a dark blush. "W-Wh-What do you think you're doing!?"

"I have to get you clean, Davis. That includes behind the ears, under the feet, and between the legs." He pouted slightly. "You used to not make so much of a fuss."

"I wouldn't mind if you didn't touch me there, thanks," Davis said quickly, trying to close his legs.

The Kaiser just hummed with a frown. "Well, I'm done there anyway." So his hand moved along, up to Davis' stomach and across his chest. "But isn't this at least relaxing? A good hot bath does a person wonders."

"It would be if you hadn't done that," Davis murmured, his face still hot with a blush, brown eyes looking away from the Kaiser and instead at the tiled wall.

Now the Kaiser was scowling. "It wouldn't hurt you to try, Davis. I mean really."

Davis cast a sour glance back at the Kaiser. "Just don't do that."

"I'm not talking about this!" he snapped. "I mean everything up until now! I've busted my ass trying to make you happy, but you resist me every step of the way. Worst of all is that when you're unhappy, I find myself feeling unhappy. I hate it! Why can't you even try liking me again? Surely it's not that hard."

"I'm not going to like you because you're evil and you're keeping me here!" Davis growled back. "I'm never going to like someone who's done all of the terrible things you have. Don't you get that?"

His answer was a loud slap of his hand across Davis' face. "You ungrateful little brat," he hissed.

Davis head was thrown to the side, and he groaned as he rubbed his fingers on the mark. It didn't hurt so much after the initial sting, but his eyes were still wide with confusion from the action. "What!?"

"I granted you the one thing you wanted most and this is how you repay me!"

"I don't even remember asking for this!" Davis snapped back, suddenly pushing the Kaiser back in the water and standing up.

The Kaiser flailed in the water for a brief moment before regaining his composure. "That isn't my fault! You just need to think harder!" He grabbed the other boy's ankle and pulled his foot out from under him. "You wanted to be real and to love me for real, but so far all you've done is treat me like shit, Davis!"

Davis cried out as he slipped, falling under the water. He scrambled to the surface, gasping for air when he emerged, his hair pressed flat to his head and his tan skin dripping with water. "No, I didn't want that!" he spat, water leaking from his lips. "You had me under mind control that made me think I wanted that!"

"Well maybe I should put you back under mind control, then!"

"I won't let you!" Davis growled. "You've already taken away enough years of my life."

"What do you care?" the Kaiser snarled. "You won't know the difference. I'll be your master again, you'll be happy, and I'll turn your Digimon back into an egg. It'll be like nothing ever happened. It's so easy, Davis."

"No..." Davis choked on a sob that he hadn't intended to let out, one he'd been holding back through grit teeth and growled out words. He scrubbed at his face with the back of his arm, taking in a deep, sharp breath. "If you care anything about what I really want, th-that's the last thing you'd do."

The Kaiser felt a painful restriction in his chest. "You really do care about that worthless blue blob more than you care about me." He scoffed weakly. "You probably care more about dirt than you do me." The Kaiser tried pushing his dark hair back, but the water made it heavy so it just fell back into his face. "Get out," the boy finally said weakly. "Just get out of here. You don't have to sleep with me tonight. Do whatever the hell you want, Davis." But Davis didn't seem to hear most of what the Kaiser had said. In fact, he'd totally ignored his words to cry into his arm. Tears leaked through the space between his arm and his cheeks, salty droplets falling into the warm bath water. "Davis? Oh, Davis... C'mon..." The Kaiser moved closer through the water, the pain his his chest just getting worse from watching the boy cry. "Don't... Don't do that. Look, I won't hurt Chibomon, all right? Calm down." But Davis' crying just grew harder, tears he'd refused to let flow for so very long finally spilling out. He cried like a child, unbefitting of the foreign, teenaged body he found himself in, making gasping, whimpering noises as he continuously tried to wipe his eyes dry, to no avail. He lifted one hand out of the water and hesitantly placed it on the teen's shoulder. "Davis. Davis." When this didn't help either, the Kaiser decided to do something bold. He moved in closer again until he was up alongside Davis and drew the much more built body into a hug. "Davis, sshhh... Sshhh..." He saught to tuck the boy's head under his chin, rocking him gently where they sat. "Sshhh... It's okay. Sshhh..."

"Auh... auuh..." Davis gasped. The tanned boy actually leaned into the Kaiser's chest, his now bloodshot eyes pressed into the pale skin as he continued to sob. His hands landed on the Kaiser's shoulders and gripped them tightly, he not seeming to care about their close vicinity as years worth of tears poured down the Kaiser's chest.

The Kaiser allowed his former slave to cry. It was a natural process he had to let happen. To deny someone tears, well... It just wasn't human. When Davis seemed to have calmed down a bit, the Kaiser spoke quietly and carefully. "Davis, I want you to listen." He began petting the head of brown hair. "I know you want to go home, but I'm not so sure the real world will be good for you. This isn't an excuse to keep you here. I swear. But... Look at yourself right now. You can barely handle your new body in an enclosed environment like my citadel. If you go back to the real world, you might face a culture shock. A lot can happen in four years, Davis. The real world might be a completely different place."

Davis had retired to silent tears, slipping down his face but with no gasps or groans to couple with them. "It can't be," he whined when the Kaiser was done talking. "I have to go back to my family and my friends... everything'll go back to normal wh-wh-when I go back..."

The pale boy shook his head. "Davis, you know that isn't true. You've missed out on too much. Do you know what kind of frenzy you'll cause if you go back? It will be too much for you to handle."

"No..." Davis said, shaking his head. "No, I have to. What if... what if they think I'm dead? D-Don't you think they care?"

"I'm sure they do," he admitted reluctantly. "But you should really let sleeping dogs lie, Davis. I care too, you know."

Davis swallowed hard, sounding conflicted as he asked, "Did... did my friends look for me?"

The Kaiser nodded. "Incessently. Even after I'd won their Digimon, they still came back here looking for you. But one day... they just didn't come back."

"They just stopped?" Davis asked quietly.

"After years of stripping the Digital world for you, I think they assumed the worst. Searching for a body that could not be found was too painful for them."

"I can't let them think that," Davis said, shaking his head.

"I'm sure they've moved on," he insisted. "Don't pick at their wounds, Davis. Let them believe you're in a better place. Imagine if you went back now, looking the way you do, and not even able to explain where you've been."

Davis opened his mouth to say something, but no more words came forth. Eventually, he closed his mouth and looked down, shaking a bit and letting more tears spring forth. "I guess..." he managed after a few minutes more, "I guess you're right."

"It hurts, I know." The Kaiser drew Davis in closer, stroking his neck and back gently. "But Davis, you know I can give you practically anything you want. The Digital World is ready to be redesigned in our image. We can make it whatever we want it to be. We can create arcades, fast food restaurants, the park, even your old room. I can make this place feel like home if you just give me a chance."

At that point, crying into the Kaiser's chest and having his back stroked by that strangely comforting hand, it seemed like he had no other options but to try and give the Kaiser a shot. He didn't really have any other options. "Okay..." he said softly. "One chance."

The pale boy just smiled, kissing the top of the other's head. "You won't regret this, Davis."

"I hope not," Davis responded, before his eyes slid shut and he'd just as soon drifted off to sleep against the Kaiser's chest.


	10. Surprise

"Davis..." He'd been up all night making plans. "Daaaavis..." He'd spent hours programing it all together. "Daaaavviiisss..." Now it was time for the big unveiling. If only the boy it was all meant for would wake up. "Davis!"

"Mhhn..." Davis grumbled, shaking his head with his eyes shut. "Five more minutes..." he protested.

"But I have the most wonderful surprise for yooouuuuu..." the Kaiser sang.

Davis groaned, but finally blinked his eyes opened, rubbing at them with the back of his fists. "What is it?" he asked as he pulled his hands away.

"Now now, Davis. If I tell you, then it won't be a surprise, now will it?" he said with a laugh. "Hurry and get dressed. You're going to love it!"

"Okay, okay," Davis said, getting up and feeling around until he got out of bed, yawning and heading for the closet. It was still sort of odd to have to sort through the Kaiser's clothing to get to his own, but he just ignored it and got dressed in a muscle shirt and jeans. That was pretty much that was in there... that he would consider wearing, anyway.

The Kaiser was smiling and clapped. "Good! Now come with me." He grabbed the other boy's hand and pulled him along. "You said I only get one chance, so I knew I had to do something amazing. I had to think a long time about what exactly I would do to impress you. Well, I finally got it. You wanted to go home, right? So I decided to bring home to you!" With that, he opened a door that led to the outside. Light came pouring in, blinding them at first, but then it was revealed. A perfect replica of Odaiba was waiting outside for them. The citadel was in the place of Ken's old apartment and everything else was in perfect distance and proportion of it. "So... What do you think?"

Davis blinked in surprise when he was met with Odaiba. He looked around, stepping out onto the sidewalk. He didn't know the area around Ken's apartment too well, but he did recognize the styles of buildings and the park he could see just the corners of down the street. A breath of awe escaped him as he turned around to look at the other boy. "This is incredible," he said, sounding dumbfounded.

The Kaiser seemed genuinely happy as he smiled at Davis. "So does that mean you like it? I did good, right?"

"Yeah, I really do," Davis said, finally managing a smile. "This must've taken forever."

"I didn't get any sleep last night, but it was all worth it, if it makes you happy." He latched onto Davis' arm. "Where do you want to go first? The arcade? The movies? Fast food?"

Davis scratched at the back of his head, looking overwhelmed. "I guess, uh... The arcade sounds good!" Davis decided, suddenly sounding excited and grabbing the other boy's hand, rushing off in the direction he knew the arcade was.

The Kaiser managed a laugh as well. Finally Davis was happy. Maybe now he wouldn't be so adamant about going home. As they went, Davis might notice the peculiarity of the people. They had no real faces to speak of. Their features were only accented by shadows. When listening close enough, you could tell they weren't really talking, but a soft garble of voices just floated through the air. Their appearances also started to repeat themselves. It turned out that the Kaiser had only designed five base women and five base men, and each one was just colored differently. "And the best part is that everything is free here. You can play at the arcade all day and not have to spend a single dime!"

"Well, that's good... I don't have any money, anyway..." Davis said, his eyes starting to catch sight of the other people. The blank faces were... sort of creepy. And the more he saw the same person over and over again, the more he slowed down, the excited look in his eyes giving way to a more lonely look.

He noticed how the other was slowing down. When looking at that tan face, he was disappointed to see the lonliness sinking back in. The Kaiser frowned. "What's wrong, Davis? You were so excited a second ago."

"The people..." Davis said, looking around as more mumbling people walked slowly past them on both sides.

"Hm, the people? Oh don't mind them. They're all just going about their business. You and I have our own adventure to go on." Davis still looked uneasy, but took it upon himself to ignore the digitally created townspeople. He said he was going to give the Kaiser one chance, and he was going to stick by his word. So, he nodded and continued to lead the way to the arcade. "It was a lot of work for one night, Davis," the Kaiser insisted. "Given more time... I can work on the people some more. Okay? Just please don't look so unhappy. I'm really trying here."

"Yeah, I understand, sorry," Davis said, shaking his head. "It was just weird when I first noticed, y'know?" he asked before laughing.

"I know. It was the best I could do at the time." They soon arrived at the arcade with was loud and flashing with lights and colors. There were more kids inside, also with blank faces, but they at least managed to laugh. "So, what should we play first? I made sure to put all the latest and greatest in here." By which he meant the newest games from four years ago. Aside from making non-distracting people, the Kaiser designed Odaiba the way it was four years ago. He didn't want to let Davis get used to all the changes that had happened, thus making him more capable of surviving there should he ever escape. Of course, Davis didn't even notice the difference. Everything was familiar and the way he expected it. He quickly rushed off to his favorites, dragging the Kaiser to the shooters, the racing games, and almost everything else. Without the restraint of quarters being needed, Davis just took them to game after game until they'd exhausted almost all of the possibilities. And he had to admit, for a guy that he didn't think he'd get along with, the other boy was wicked at video games at the least.

The Kaiser was quite the wiz at video games. He had a knack for technology, after all, and while video games were usually seen as a waste of time and energy by him, he liked playing with Davis. There were times when the Kaiser would let the other boy win, simply because dominating Davis each time would completely contradict his goal. He needed to gain Davis' trust and friendship, and kicking his ass at games was not the way to do it. Davis grinned when he won the final game they played. He stepped back from the controls, pumping his fists and making noises like a crowd cheering. After a moment, though, his stomach growled, and his victorious grin turned sheepish. "You said something about fast food before, right?"

"Mhmm." The Kaiser nodded and turned his head slightly. "Burgers and fries right around the corner, pizza down the street, or sushi the next block over. What's your taste, Davis?"

Davis pondered for a moment before just grinning and shrugging. "Burgers are closest, so burgers it is."

"Burgers it is then." A slender hand laced in with a callused hand and they were off. The Kaiser was more in the mood for sushi, but pleasing Davis was critical these first few trips out. There would be plenty of time for compromise later. At the burger joint, he walked up to the counter where a girl in a red and yellow uniform was standing.

"Your order?" The words were surprisingly clear, but obviously limited to just that.

"I'll have a turkey burger, extra tomato, no mustard, lettuce, and easy on the onions. Also, I'll have a small order of fries and... a medium sprite." He then looked over his shoulder at Davis. "What can I get for you?"

"Um..." Davis looked across the board, and started point out combos. "One of those," he said, referring to the double cheeseburger that came with a large drink and fries, "One of those," he said, now pointing to the restaurant's specialty that came with the same sides, "And some chicken nuggets," he said with an affirmative nod."

Dark indigo eyes slowly widened as Davis expressed his food desires. "All that? Really?"

Davis quirked a brow, looking over at the other boy. "Yeah, why?"

"Just seems like a lot of food. Are you really going to eat all of it?"

"Yup," Davis said with a nod and a shrug. "I'm hungry."

"All right, then, if that's what you really want." The Kaiser relayed the order to the girl who punched it into her register and then went off to prepare the food. "Go find us a table, Davis," he said with a small wave of his hand. Davis nodded and headed off into the fast food place. Most of the tables were empty, but some were occupied by those strange, faceless people, who didn't seem to eat so much as hold food to where their mouths should be as the food slowly vanished. Davis swallowed slightly, finding a booth that was tucked away in a corner, apart from everyone else. The Kaiser found him hiding away in the corner. He approached with the tray and laughed slightly. "Wanted some privacy, eh? We can feed each other fries and call each other names like sweety and honey."

When normally Davis would have gagged, he was actually in a good enough mood despite the weird people that he laughed, taking it as a joke rather than a disgusting come on. "I like the corner," he said simply.

"Fair enough." He set the tray down and took a seat across from Davis. The Kaiser unwrapped his burger, making sure the paper was flat and even, placed his fries on the left, little paper cup of ketchup below it, and his drink on the right. The rest of the food on the tray was pushed over to the boy who claimed would eat it all. "Have you been enjoying yourself so far today, Davis?"

"Yeah, it's been a good day," Davis said, as he hastily tore off the wrapper from the first burger and started to tear into it. "How about you?" he asked with his mouth full.

Unable to help himself any longer, the Kaiser curled his upper lip slightly in disgust and frowned. "Honestly, Davis, show a little class."

Davis sighed, rolling his eyes as he chewed his food before he spoke. "Well excuse me."

The pale boy huffed. "Well it is rude to talk with your mouth full. That's not just my rule, you know. It's common courtesy."

Davis shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, I'm not courtes... ful."

"Courteous, Davis," he sighed. "To practice courtesy is to be courteous."

"Well I say it's courtesful, so there," Davis said with a smirk, before he took one of his drinks in his other hand and began to sip on the straw out of the corner of his mouth.

The Kaiser was already feeling agitated. "That's not even a word, Davis. You sound like an uneducated street monkey. Have some pride and say it right."

"Oh, lighten up," Davis snickered. "I'm just messing with you."

"Ha ha, yes, very funny." He rolled his dark eyes before taking a bite of his own burger. The Kaiser chewed a designated number of times before swallowing and then taking a drink to wash it down. "All of that aside, I actually have had a nice time today. It was good to get out and do something I think."

"It's cool that you were able to make Odaiba," Davis commented with a nod, before going back to his burger, which had become nearly nothing while the Kaiser was talking. And soon enough it was just a crumpled up paper before Davis went back to sucking down his soda.

A humble nod replaced bold pride. "I knew it was what you wanted." Davis looked over at the other boy, noticing that change in attitude and tone. Now he felt a little guilty, taking and not giving. He thought for a second, before he reached into one of his french fry containers and reached a long one across the table. The Kaiser was attending his own food, so he didn't notice the fry at first. It wasn't until he happened to glance up that the floating french fry got his attention. He stared curiously at first before giving something between and amused smirk and a hurt frown. "I didn't poison it, Davis," he insisted.

"Pfft," Davis snorted, a laugh he reigned back. "No, don't you remember what you said like, three seconds ago?"

"What I said? ...Oh!" That's when a smile managed to curl on his lips. So, Davis was finally coming around, huh? The Kaiser leaned forward, taking the fry into his mouth, and then leaned back again. "I must admit, this American style food isn't half bad."

"Mhm," Davis agreed, not opening his mouth as it was just as soon occupied with the first bite of his second burger. And it was scarfed down just as quickly as the first, Davis crumpling up the paper and dropping it on the tray before he shook his cup, realizing the first one was just ice and picking up the second one. "I used to come here with my team after a soccer game sometimes," he said when he finished the food in his mouth, transferring the straw from the empty cup to the new one before he began sipping on it.

"Oh? Reward for a victory well earned?" he asked curiously. "My coach insisted on taking us out for ice cream when we won, but I always thought it was a pointless system." The boy munched on a few more of his fries, seeing as how his burger was also now finished.

Davis shrugged. "I liked when we did it. I mean, I didn't ever get invited to the after game parties or anything, but when the coach treated us, everyone came."

"I believe in counter reinforcement," the Kaiser said, not picking up on Davis' desire to be part of a group rather than be rewarded. "Failure should be punished so as to learn to do better. The reward for success is the absence of punishment. If an even mildly intelligent creature can learn that success equals no punishment, then they will work harder to succeed."

"Doesn't that accomplish the same thing?" Davis asked, kicking his feet as he began nibbling on his french fries.

"Yes, but your method is more time consuming."

"It takes more time to punch someone than it does to throw them a bone," Davis responded with a shrug, as he flipped off the top of his soda and experimentally dipped the fries into it, seeing how they tasted, only for his eyebrows to raise and he to continue.

"If good behavior is the ultimate goal through positive reinforcement, then you would spend more time rewarding its every occurrance. If good behavior is the ultimate goal through counter reinforcement, you only have to spend time punishing the few bad behavior occurrances. After that, once the good behavior is achieved, your time is free."

"Uh-huh," Davis said, nodding his head as he nibbled on another soda soaked fry. "So do you... always do negative reinforcement?"

The Kaiser nodded. "Probably ninety-five percent of the time, yes."

"And what about the other five percent?"

"That's you, Davis."

"Oh..." Davis said, looking a little surprised. He opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again, but still found so words and went back to sucking on his soda, smiling slightly around the straw.

"Naturally I did punish you when you were bad. You had to be taught that you'd done something wrong, but..." Dark indigo eyes stared down at the still unfolded paper wrapper which he was now using a fry and ketchup to draw on. "When you fixed your mistake, I made sure to reward you as well. I also rewarded you at times when you were especially good. When you earned it. I really did take care of you, Davis. I saw to it that you were loved, even in hard times."

"That sounds nice," Davis said around his straw. "Wish I remembered it. The good parts, at least."

The Kaiser sighed. "That makes two of us..." Suddenly having lost his appetite, the boy stood. "Feel free to keep exploring. I haven't programmed anything beyond Odaiba, so if you try to cross the bridge, you'll just exit the barrier. Oh... and don't go to your apartment yet. I haven't finished your family." With that he turned to leave, walking with his head down and arms folded across his body.


	11. Interruption

Davis frowned, getting up from the table and trotting after the other boy. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked as he followed behind him.

The Kaiser just shook his head, long ponytail swaying across his back. "Davis, please... Not now..."

Davis gave an overdramatic huff. "Geez, d'ya want me to care or not?"

"Of course I do!" The Kaiser turned around. His cheeks were dark pink and his bottom eyelids were puffy like he was trying not to cry. "But it would be so much easier if you could remember anything! My god, Davis. I know this is hard for you, but it's hard for me too! You don't remember all the good times. You don't remeber us making love. I gave myself to you and you don't even remember... Do you know how hard that is?!"

Davis' eyes widened as he stopped in his tracks. He had not expected that reaction. "N-no, I guess I don't," he stammered. "Sorry..."

"That's right. You don't. You may have a world, family, and friends to go back to, but I don't. You are my world, Davis," he choked out. "So forgive me if I have a hard time letting you go."

Davis cautiously stepped closer, offering his arms. "I'm still giving you that one chance, so... I'm not going anywhere right now."

The Kaiser gave in and submitted to those outstretched arms. "I've never had to work this hard for anything," he said into Davis' chest.

Davis couldn't help a chuckle as one hand came to touch the Kaiser's hair, and the other the small of his back. "Sorry," he said quietly.

"You should be," he said, "but you're worth it." Those words actually warmed Davis' heart a bit. Even if it was the Kaiser, feeling wanted was... a nice feeling. Sighing a bit at his conflicting feelings, Davis buried his face in the head of dark locks. "You used to do that," the Kaiser began softly, "when I had a bad day. You would tell me... My hair looked like the sky at night and my skin was like the moon. You had a great fondness for the moon, Davis."

"Well... 'cuse I do like the moon," Davis said into the Kaiser's hair. "I like to go outside and look at it on clear nights."

"Why the moon, though, Davis? What's so special about the moon?"

"It's incomplete, but still whole, y'know?" Davis murmured. "Like, there's craters all over it, chunks missing, but when it's full, it still looks like a whole circle despite its flaws. If that makes sense."

The Kaiser nodded. "It makes perfect sense, Davis. It's a rather hopeful thought, as well. You don't always speak eloquently, but you have beautiful ideas, Davis. I was always impressed by that."

"Heh, thanks," Davis said, in the sort of voice where he might have been scratching at the back of his head embarrassedly if he weren't snaking his hands around the Kaiser's waist. "Most people don't think that I think about stuff."

He continued to nod in understanding. "I was aware of your thinking habits. I just never realized how deeply you managed to do so. Most boys your age... don't think about much of anything, except girls and food, really." The Kaiser smiled at the hands encircling his waist and moved in closer with the hold.

"Well, I still thought about those things," Davis said with a snicker. "But I thought about other stuff, too. It's just so much easier to spend a few hours staring at the moon and thinking than trying to think all the time during the day, y'know? Multi-tasking isn't my thing."

"Do you still think about girls?" the Kaiser asked warily.

Davis glanced to the side, quiet for a moment. "Not really," he answered.

"It's all right, Davis," he insisted.

"I'm not really..." Davis murmured, "Out. Y'know."

The Kaiser offered up a smile. "There's no one to hide from here, Davis. It's safe here."

Davis glanced around a bit, exhaling gently. "I guess you're right. It's just weird, y'know?"

The Kaiser stroked the back of Davis' neck. "Are you comfortable with it yet?" he asked.

"Not really," Davis said, shuffling one of his feet slightly. "It's still really new to me. Well, I guess it's not, since I found out when I was twelve, but it is, because... well, you know what I mean."

"I can help," he sang sweetly, "if you let me, Davis."

Davis swallowed slightly, lifting his head up a bit. "I-I don't know..."

"I won't bite, I promise," the boy purred with a smile. "I'll make you feel good."

Davis felt a blush creeping across his cheeks. He inhaled sharply and continued to debate within his mind. But then came his promise of giving the Kaiser one chance. And with that, he sighed and nodded his head. "Okay, but... be patient with me, okay?"

The Kaiser nodded. "I always have been, Davis." Without another word, he took Davis by the hand and led him back home. "You and I did this sort of thing all the time. I'm sure once you get started, you'll fall right into the rhythm." He brought the other boy all the way up to his room where the door was promplty shut and locked.

"Um..." Davis murmured, looking a little nervous as the Kaiser locked the door. "I don't know about that, m-maybe we should start slow..."

The pale one laughed lightly. "Davis, what do you think I'm talking about?"

Davis scratched at the back of his head, looking confused now. "Well, uh, I mean, we're here, right? So..." Eventually he closed his eyes and exhaled heavily. "I dunno."

He laughed delightedly now. "You're so funny Davis." After removing his shoes, the Kaiser got onto his bed, atop the sheets, and pat the spot across from him. "Come. Sit."

Davis took his own shoes off as well just because of the Kaiser's example and edged over to the bed, sitting down on the spot offered to him. "So... if that's not it, what're we doing?" he asked slowly.

The Kaiser just shook his head with a smile. "Kiss my cheek," he said placing a finger on the right side of his face. Davis bit his bottom lip, but eventually breathed in, let it go, and leaned over on his hands to place a light peck on the Kaiser's cheek. "Good, Davis." The Kaiser then leaned over and kissed Davis' left cheek in return. "Now, kiss my forehead," he said and pointed again. Again, Davis hovered for a second before pushing himself up onto his knees to kiss the Kaiser's forehead fleetingly. "Good, Davis," he praised once more. As a reward, he returned the kiss in the same place on the tan boy. "Now on my nose." The Kaiser smiled, tapping the end of the pale point. Davis felt the blush on his cheeks coming back full force. Even something as simple as this was very uncomfortable for the boy, but he was adamant to stick by his promise and maybe learn something about himself from the Kaiser in return. So, he nodded and did as he was told again. "Very good, Davis." His hands came to rest in his lap as the Kaiser stared at his partner. "How do you feel?"

"Nervous," Davis answered with a laugh, scratching at the back of his head.

He tilted his head. "But do you feel bad?"

"Well, no, not bad..." Davis said, shaking his head.

"Then kiss my neck," the Kaiser instructed while opening the area for Davis to reach. Davis steeled himself, leaning close to the Kaiser's neck. He licked his lips before he leaned in and placed them on the pale skin, leaving a kiss there only to pull back just slightly. He swallowed hard again and gained more resolve, and placed a second kiss on his neck, with a bit more sureness the second time. The Kaiser hummed. "Very good, Davis. Very good." He turned his head back up so he could move in and place his own series of kisses on Davis' neck. Obviously the Kaiser had no real problems with this. It came naturally to him, given how long they'd been doing it together. But as promised, he would be patient with the other boy and take it slow.

"Mh..." Davis' fingers curled into the sheets a bit as the Kaiser's mouth moved over his skin. It was a feeling that had graced his skin so many times before, but that he could never remember having felt, so still his eyes closed and he made small noises of unsure enjoyment.

"Sshhh..." He hushed the other boy gently. "It's okay. Don't be scared to enjoy it. You're supposed to."

"S-sorry," Davis apologized, his fingers clutching a bit tighter. "I've just... never felt this before."

"But you like it," the Kaiser said more as a command than a suggestion or question. That's when he took Davis' clenched hands off from the sheets and placed them on his sides. "Now lift this up and off." Davis hesitated, but soon gripped the fabric of the Kaiser's shirt and pulled it off over his head, letting it fall from his hands carelessly. The Kaiser sighed in disappointment. "A little unceremonious, but I supposed I'll forgive it. Now let's practice touching." He turned around, sitting with his back to the boy. "Try kneading my shoulders Davis. When you feel comfortable with it, kiss the back of my neck. Maybe even behind my ear if you wish."

"Kneading?" Davis asked, looking confused as his hands came to rest on the Kaiser's shoulders. "You mean like... a massage?"

"Yes, Davis. That's exactly what I mean. You loved giving me massages." Dark eyes glanced over his shoulder. "Go ahead."

"Well... alright," Davis said, before his hands pressed into the Kaiser's skin and he was soon kneading his hands into tense shoulders. At first he didn't seem to realize what he could do and was too gentle, but soon he seemed to realize the power contained within arms he as still unused to and finally reached a level of pressure that would actually melt away the stiffness. Remembering the Kaiser's words, when he was used to what he was doing, Davis leaned closer and gently kissed a bit of skin that was revealed in the part of the Kaiser's long hair on his neck.

Now the Kaiser was humming with contentment. There was that strong, warm magic he remembered from Davis' callused, yet gentle hands. "You're brilliant," he purred deeply. His own hands reached back to slide up along jean-clad thighs, rubbing and gripping firmly. "Mhhn... Davis, I thought I would never get to feel this again. It's so good."

Davis gasped slightly, his legs shifting a bit closer together. "Um... I'm glad, I guess," he said with a nervous laugh, as his hands continued to work.

"Mmmnn... See if you can get lower." The Kaiser brought his ponytail around the front of his body before laying chest down on the bed. "I'm so stiff and sore from working all night. That chair can get so uncomfortable sometimes."

Davi bit his lip, but nodded, saying, "Uh-huh, I'll try," as his hands moved lower, pushing soon at the Kaiser's spine and kneading the skin around it, even earning one or two satisfying cracking sounds as he worked.

"Oohhhh... Davis..." he moaned a bit dramatically, but it felt that good. Among all the noises the Kaiser was making, there came a soft scratching at the bedroom door. He heard it but did his best to ignore it, hoping Davis would do the same.

Davis kept going, but he heard the scratching at the door and looked over at it. "Um... I think someone's..."

The Kaiser tensed. "Don't pay any attention to it. Sometimes the Gazimon come by thinking I might need something, but they go away soon enough. Just keep going."

Only the quiet scratching didn't stop. In fact, it got a little louder and soon a tiny voice came calling, "Davis?"

At that, Davis lifted his hands, looking surprised when he heard his name. He got up and at once went over to the door, with total disregard for the Kaiser's order for him to disregard the scratching. "Yeah?" he asked as he approached, fumbling with the lock.

The Kaiser was immediately up on his hands and knees. "Davis, stop!" he ordered. "Come back here right now. We aren't done yet."

"Davis?" the tiny voice called again. "You said you were gonna play with me today."

"He doesn't have time for you!" the Kaiser shouted.

"Hey!" Davis snapped, looking over his shoulder with wide eyes. "That's not nice. I spent the whole day with you."

"And you've been spending weeks with him!" the boy argued. "I deserve one day."

'I'll come back later!" Davis said defensively. "Just give me an hour or two."

"We were in the middle of something!" he argued, looking for any excuse.

"Davis..." Chibomon's voice called again, now sound a tad hurt and disappointed.

"C'mon," Davis pleaded, hand still on the knob. "Just a few hours. I'll be back before you know it."

Bitter jealousy rose in his throat like a hot lump of bile, but he swallowed it back down. You have to win Davis over. You have to win Davis over. This was his internal mantra and the only thing keeping him sane enough to not chain the tan teen to his bed. "Fine, you get three hours. But that's it!"

Davis offered a genuine smile. "Thanks," he said. "Three hours."


	12. The Frozen Room

With that, he stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him, looking down at the Digimon now at his feet. "Sorry about that, buddy."

Chibomon had the cutest frown on his face and was wriggling grumpishly. "Was he hurting you, Davis? When you didn't come to feed me this morning I knew something was wrong. I knew I had to come save you!" He waddled up to the door and pushed his forehead against it like he was trying to fight it. "That Kaiser had better watch out or I'll be coming for him next!"

"No Chibomon, I'm fine," Davis said with a bit of a sad smile as he picked the tiny Digimon up in his hands. "I'm sorry about that. Here, let's get you something to eat now, okay?"

"Hey! Hey! Hey, Davis!" Chibomon said as he bounced in his boy's hands.

"Hm? What is it, Chibomon?" Davis asked, looking down at the little Digimon.

Suddenly he was smiling quite proudly. "I think I know where your Digivice is stashed!" he proclaimed.

Davis' eyes widened, and he suddenly picked up his pace a bit to take them even farther away from the Kaiser's door. Luckily he'd started walking towards the nursery already, so hopefully the Kaiser didn't hear the little Digimon's unfortunately loud voice. When they were far enough away, Davis asked, "Yeah? How'd you figure that out?"

Now he was grinning with a devilish curl of his lips. "I was following some Gazimon today. I was real sneaky, Davis. You shoulda seen me. They didn't even know I was there! Well, I was hoping they would lead me to the room where the Digivices were stashed. They go into a lot of rooms. None of the ones I saw into had any Digivices in them, but there was one door that had lots of security on it. Like only the Kaiser is allowed in. I figure whatever is inside must be real important. What's more important than your Digivice?"

Davis nodded his head, now also smiling. "Good point Chibomon, good point!" he said, patting his Digimon on the head praisingly. "Great job, buddy. Now we just need to figure out a way to get inside."

"We break in of course!"

"Sounds good to me," Davis said with a smirk. "But let's grab you some food, first. Can't bust in without any energy. Alright, Chibomon?"

The tiny Digimon wiggled as his form of a nod. "Okay, Davis."

Davis nodded, and they headed down to the nursery. Swanmon and Elecmon were fussing over a crying Tokomon, but Davis knew where the bottles were by now and took one before edging out of the room. "Now, where is this high security room, Chibomon?" Davis asked in a whisper as he offered the bottle to the tiny Digimon. There was no initial response as Chibomon suddenly found the bottle much more desirable than answering. He latched on almost immediately and began to suckle on the sweet milk inside. Not wanting to let go, he ended up pointing the way with his little head tail. Davis laughed a bit, and started to follow the way Chibomon pointed as the baby Digimon sucked down his meal. Down hallways, stairways, and through places Davis couldn't even remember exploring in the citadel. Did Chibomon really go all this way?

"Mmn-ssstop!" Chibomon slurred as he tore his mouth away mid-suckle. There was milk trailing down his face but this didn't stop him from hopping in Davis' hand. "Right here, Davis!"

"Here?" Davis asked, stopping at the end of the hall and peering around the corner, looking to see if there were any Digimon guards in front of the only steel door in the hallway.

"Yeah yeah! This is the place," he confirmed. "Hurry, Davis!" Chibomon then took a daring leap from the boy's hands down to the floor and began his hurried waddle toward the door.

Davis rushed after his little Digimon, pressed against the wall of the corridor as if he was in some overdone spy movie. When they came upon the door, he leaned over to tug experimentally at the handle. When he realized the huge padlock upon it, he whispered, "Chibomon, can your bubbles melt that?"

"I can sure try." Chibomon hopped in place. "Lift me up, Davis."

Davis quickly picked his little Digimon up in his hands, holding him up to the lock on the door. "Ready, Chibomon? And... fire!" Chibomon took a big breath, puffing himself out, and then let it all go in a fury of acidic bubbles. First breath exhausted, he took another deep inhale and blew out strongly again. Soon enough the padlock began to melt away, sizzling and burning with a mild odor of corroding steel. "Good job, Chibomon!" Davis whispered excitedly. "Keep it up!" His encouragement continued until the lock had faded away completely. And with a smirk, he grabbed the lock on the door and tried again to swing it open.

Chibomon was squirming excitedly, that is, until the door creaked it open. They were met by a cold rush of air, practically freezing, and the room inside was pitch black. The tiny Digimon shrunk back in the boy's hands, not liking the feeling he was getting from inside. "I... I don't think this is the place..."

"Then what could it be?" Davis asked, putting one hand over Chibomon protectively as he shouldered inside. He tried to squint his eyes and get them used to the darkness so he could see just what was inside.

Once his feet landed on the icy metal floor, a series of dimly lit lights flickered on. Each set of five or six lights was used to illuminate the rows upon rows of Digieggs. Each one of brown with light tan feather markings on them. The only thing holding each individual egg was a metal bowl on a pillar which was rigged to stay at a constant freezing temperature. Chibomon sniffed curiously at one egg before whimpering sadly. "The baby inside isn't breathing..."

"They're all frozen..." Davis murmured, also looking saddened by the state of the eggs. Why weren't these ones in the hatchery? As his eyes scanned the rows upon rows, he suddenly raised an eyebrow. "They're all the same kind of egg. I wonder if this is a kind of Digimon the Kaiser... doesn't like?"

"But that isn't fair!" Chibomon cried angrily with tears rolling over his cheeks.

"No, it isn't..." Davis said with a deep frown. It was this sort of thing that kept him unable to completely trust the Kaiser. Who could do something like this? He went to the first row of eggs, standing near the door as he felt each one. They all felt like ice. "I wonder what kind of eggs these are."

"We hav'ta save them!" Chibomon said. He jumped down from Davis' hand onto one of the pillars. He fired his acid bubbles at the base of the bowl until it was disconnected from the freezing mechanism underneath. Chibomon then jumped over to the next one, doing the same thing. The tiny Digimon did this again and again as many times as he could until he was completely out of breath. It was disappointing to know his strength only lasted him enough for about twelve eggs. On the thirteenth he was still trying, but only managed a tiny sputter of bubbles that popped right after.

"Wait, Chibomon!" Davis called, eyes wide. "Chibomon, what're we going to do with all of them when they hatch!? If we put them outside, they're goners! But we can't leave them here, the Kaiser will know we're the ones that took them out..."

"I don't care!" Chibomon was crying as he kept trying to blow his bubble attack. "He can't keep them like this! It's the same as being dead..."

Davis nodded, biting his lip. He understood Chibomon's upset with the way the eggs were being treated. He thought for a moment before nodding his head, a grin spreading over his face. "Okay... we can handle this. We'll just sneak the eggs into the hatchery and hide them amongst the others. The Kaiser never even goes down there since he doesn't care, so I bet he won't even notice. And we'll just do a few a day so it doesn't look too suspicious." Smiling, he went over and picked up his little Digimon, wiping away his tears. "Is that okay, Chibomon?"

Chibomon nodded. "They'll get dark rings put on them... but it's still better than this."

"Hey!" a Gazimon barked from the doorway.

Chibomon shrunk. "Uh-oh..."

"Only the Digimon Kaiser is allowed in here! Where are your dedication collars?"

"Chill, bunny, mine's back in our room," Davis said with a whistle as he turned on his heel. "The Kaiser took it off me, so I don't think it's a problem."

The Gazimon flinched when it saw the boy's face. "Oh! Master Davis, it's you." Its red eyes closed as it took to giving a deep bow. "My apologies. I... didn't recognize you in this light. I'm sorry, but does the Kaiser know you're down here? This room is supposed to be restricted."

"Yeah, I've got three hours to roam around. It's cool," Davis said, shrugging his shoulders as he put Chibomon on one of them. "I've pretty much got full reign on all baby-related activities since the Kaiser doesn't really care about them, so this room should, logically, count too, right?"

The grey Digimon was silent for a moment, thinking, and then nodded. "I suppose so, yes."

Davis edged towards the door, trying to corral the Gazimon out and close the door behind him. "We'll continue tomorrow," he whispered to Chibomon before looking down at the other Digimon again. "Well, our time's almost up, so we're going to head back. Going on guard duty, then?"

"Yes sir." The Gazimon saluted before marching off down the opposite way.

Chibomon sighed in relief, but not without casting a regretful glance at the closed door. "I hope they don't hatch before we come back. That's a terrible place to be born."

"It's still really cold in there, even if they aren't being frozen completely. I'm sure they won't hatch until they get someplace warm." Davis said, trying to reassure his little Digimon as he headed back towards Wormmon's room to drop his Digimon off.

"Wait... Where are we going?" Chibomon asked, looking confusedly at the doors that were becoming more familiar.

"Back, Chibomon. I don't want to get in trouble," Davis said with a sigh. "We can play in Wormmon's room until my three hours are up, but we're going to have to investigate that room again tomorrow. With that Gazimon wandering around there's not much we can do."

"But we have to keep looking for your Digivice!" Chibomon exclaimed. "Phooey on the Kaiser. He's mean to you anyway. Just stay with me, Davis! If we work together, I bet we'll find your Digivice in no time!"

Davis sighed a bit, smiling as he pet his Digimon. He loved his spirit, and he'd missed him so much. But... "We can't take too many chances, Chibomon. He's got goons crawling all over this place and he can take you away from me if we piss him off. I don't want that to happen."

Chibomon grumbled. "He's just a big fat meanie."

Davis snickered, stopping as they came to Wormmon's door. "I just don't want to lose you again, Chibomon."

"Wormmon goes on a lot about Ken," Chibomon said. "He says the Kaiser needs healing, but I think he just needs a good kick in the butt!"

Davis frowned, hesitating with the door handle. "What does he mean by that?"

Chibomon wobbled from side to side. "I dunno... Something about him being really sick."

"Sick?" Davis quirked a brow. That was weird. "Maybe I should talk to Wormmon sometime."

"He might be inside," Chibomon said, turning and looking at the door. "Maybe he'll tell you the story about how Ken got sick. I'm not so sure I believe it cuz I don't think pollen can make you evil."

"Pollen?" Davis repeated with another confused look. Shaking his head, he shouldered his way inside the room, calling out, "Wormmon? You here?" as he did. Even if he didn't want to talk to the other Digimon, he never left Chibomon in the room alone.

Wormmon came scurrying out at the sound of his name. "Yes? Can I help you, Davis?"

"Yeah, I had a question for you," Davis said, as he placed Chibomon down and closed the door. He then came to sit on the floor in front of Wormmon, setting his elbow on his knee and his head in his hand. "What exactly made the Kaiser the way he is now?"

"Oh..." Wormmon's antenna dropped and his pincers clicked together nervously. "I'm afraid that's a rather long and sad story, Davis. You may not want to hear it."

"Really? Well..." Davis looked over his shoulder at a clock mounted on the wall. Were his three hours up yet? Did he have time? "I do want to hear it, but I don't want to make you give me the abridged version, either."

Wormmon just nodded. "If you're willing to hear it, then I'll tell you. If only so you will understand."

Davis bit his lip, but nodded. He had time. "Alright, lay it on me," he said, turning back to Wormmon.

"It was many years ago," Wormmon began, "when Ken was just a small child. Few remember this, but there was a great fight between two very powerful Digimon. Diaboromon and Omnimon. Many children witnessed this fight at the time of its occurrence, and Ken is one of those children."

"That sounds really familiar," Davis said, looking up and frowning. "Oh!" Suddenly, he snapped his fingers, remembering who he'd heard it from. "Yolei! She saw that fight, too."

The insect nodded. "I'm sure a number of your friends did. Ken wasn't alone that day. A playmate of his named Ryo was there also. Your Veemon was the one to take both Ken and Ryo into the Digital World to fight a second Diaboromon who had been spawned and set apart from the original, should its plan fail. Ken was left alone, however, as Ryo and Veemon went to fight the Diaboromon, which was easily defeated. Almost immediately after its defeat, the true enemy appeared. His name was Millenniumon. He revealed that Diaboromon had been a tool all along used to lure Ryo to the Digital World. Millenniumon destroyed Infinity Mountain, a cornerstone of our world, thus ripping it in two."

Davis put his other elbow on his other knee, leaning closer to Wormmon as he listened with great interest. He glanced over at Chibomon and frowned slightly. "So... Veemon had another partner before me? Do you remember that, Chibomon?"

Chibomon shook his head. "No, not really. I don't think Ryo counted. I was supposed to wait for the right child to come along. If Ryo was my chosen child, then I would still be with him, but I'm not. I went back to sleep to wait for you, Davis. You're my chosen child," he finished with a smile.

Davis managed a smile, reaching over to scratch the top of Chibomon's head fondly. But those words made his thoughts jump to another question, which he directed back to Wormmon. "What happened to Ryo, then?"

"Well, it was after the great divide that I met Ken in a forest. I explained to him that I was his partner and that it was my duty to guide and protect him on his journey. Ken wanted to search for Ryo, but I took him to see Gennai instead. Gennai is a wise old man who had lived in the Digital World from the beginning. He is one of the rare human-like Digimon created in our world. We found out then that Ryo was on the other side of the divide. Ken did not want to be a Chosen Child at first, but I eventually persuaded him. Ken and Ryo had to move in sync along the two worlds while gathering shards of a Digimental and getting through dungeons. They were able to communicate for breif periods of time through a limited gate. While on his side of the divide, Ryo met Millenniumon who said he could not be defeated by one power and that the door would never be open. It was then that a locked door appeared in Primary Village where Ken had originally been left alone upon coming here."

"Wow..." Davis murmured, sounding awed by the story. It was just the two of them fighting this big evil power? Not to mention, he knew how long ago that fight with Diaboromon was, so Ken must've been really little when he went on this first adventure through the Digital World. "So... did he get through it?" Davis asked.

"Eventually," Wormmon answered with a slight nod. "But not quite, either. You see, the door was a gateway to Millenniumon's heart. It was only opened once the Digimental of Desire was put back together. Ryo and Ken met once more in the heart of Millenniumon. While he showed favor for Ryo, he was very cold and rude to Ken. He even seemed to imply that that barren wasteland of his heart was the same as Ken's own heart. I didn't want to believe that. My Ken was meant for the Crest of Kindness. His heart was full only of love and kindness for other people. I only wish Ken could have found his crest before it was too late." Wormmon's antenna drooped again. "A fierce battle ensued leading to the destruction of Millenniumon's body, which reset the Digital World. Unfortunately, with the last of his powers, Millenniumon released his Dark Spores. These spores were tiny physical manifestations of his evil spirit. Doing only what he knew was right, Ken pushed Ryo out of the way and took the hit from a spore. It buried itself deep in the back of Ken's neck where no one could get to it. After that... Ken started to change. He became incredibly sick and I had to send him home."

"Dark Spore?" So that's what Chibomon must have been talking about when he said something about pollen before. "So... if he got a manifestation of evil put into him..." Davis started, putting the pieces together himself. "Is... the Dark Spore the reason he's the Kaiser now?"

"Yes, exactly." The insect began to pace slowly. "You see, when I sent Ken home, I sent his Digivice with him. This was still during a time when there was no gate, so I could not accompany him home. Ken must have forgotten when he passed between worlds. I learned later on that his older brother took the Digivice, claiming it as his own, and withheld it from Ken. Already suffering from the effects of the spore, Ken turned into a bitter child, harboring great jealousy and even hatred for his brother. It wasn't until, Osamu I believe it was, died in a hit and run. Ken fell into deep depression after that. He retrieved his Digivice and used it to seek refuge in the Digital World, even though he knew nothing about it. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the next time I saw Ken, his Digivice had transformed, turned black. And Ken... Millenniumon had taken full root, the evil consuming him, thus inspiring his title as Digimon Kaiser."

Davis sat up, running his hands through his hair as he tried to process everything he'd been told. "I had no idea," he said quietly. He'd always thought... His thoughts paused for a minute. Why had he thought the Kaiser was the way he was? Just born evil? Nothing better to do? He'd never been able to formulate a good reason. But this... "This explains everything," he said aloud, looking down at Wormmon again. "And... you haven't been able to figure out a way to get the Dark Spore out?"

Wormmon shook his head. "I've never gotten close enough to study his neck. Even if I did, though, I don't know of any extraction procedures to get it out. Aside from slicing the back of his neck open and digging around inside, but I would never subject Ken to that."

Davis frowned, nodding. "Right, right... That's all... really sad," he said, as he slowly got to his feet. "I wasn't expecting a story like that at all."

"Ken isn't a bad person," Wormmon warbled. "He really isn't. He's just... sick. That's all."

Davis nodded slowly, only to look over at the clock again. "I should get going," he said quickly. "Thanks, Wormmon," he said, smiling a bit at the Digimon, and then turning to Chibomon and saying, "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Can't you stay a little longer?" Chibomon whined.

"I wish, Chibomon, but I don't want the Kaiser to get pissed at us. For your sake," he said, crouching down and scratching Chibomon's head again. "I'll make sure to come earlier tomorrow to feed you, and hopefully I'll get more time."

Chibomon arched into the scratch and purred. "You promise?"

"Promise. I want to make sure you're safe, but I'm not going to abandon you in order to do it." He smiled, scratching his Digimon for a few more moments before he stood up and hastily checked the time again. "Now I really need to go. I'll see you tomorrow, Chibomon, Wormmon! Night!"


	13. Unrequited

As quickly as he'd said his goodbyes, he'd left the room, closing the door behind him before he ran towards the Kaiser's room. He was cutting it close, but he was sure he could run fast enough to beat the clock. In his room, the Kaiser was sitting at his vanity, staring bored and lonely at his reflection. He had on a very large black t-shirt that hung off one shoulder and reached down to his thighs. The boy had let his long hair down and was now brushing it with a soft bristled hair brush. Silver handle in one hand, the other was used to hold up the collection of locks so he could reach all the way to the end. When done he would run his fingers through that section and let it fall gracefully down the side. Much less gracefully, Davis practically burst into the room. He closed the door, leaning back against it before he caught the Kaiser's gaze in the mirror. He breathed for a moment before conjuring up a grin, as if he hadn't just heard the other boy's incredibly depressing history. "Back," he announced, as if the Kaiser couldn't already tell he'd returned.

"And here I though a stampede of clumsy horses had barged into my room," the Kaiser replied dryly as he took to brushing another section of hair.

"Sorry," Davis apologized, letting go of the door's handle to walk over, standing behind where the Kaiser was seated. "I wanted to get back in time."

"Did you have fun playing with your rat?"

"Don't call him that," Davis said with a frown.

"You're right, calling it a rat is too generous. It hardly looks like one. How about a leech or a germ?"

"Hey!" Davis snapped, his hands instinctively balling into fists, even though he had no intention of doing anything with them. "He's a baby... dinosaur... thing!"

The Kaiser nodded. "So a leech then."

"No!" Davis protested with a groan. "Why do you have to be so mean to him?"

"Why do you have to neglect me for him?" the boy shot back.

"You said I could spend three hours with him!" Davis growled defensively. "And then I said I'd come back and I did! What's the problem!?"

"The problem..." the Kaiser said, remaining unsually calm as he continued to brush his hair, "is that you chose him over me in the first place."

"He's my partner," Davis argued. "Not to mention he's a baby right now. I didn't see him all morning because I was with you, and he was starving when he finally came here looking for me. So really, I chose you over him first, but I can't leave him alone for a whole day!"

"Memories or no, you're incredibly ungrateful, Davis. I could turn him back into an egg anytime I want, you know. I busted my ass taking care of you these past four years. You think you'd show some gratitude."

"I only asked for an hour or two," Davis now whined. "I want to make you happy, but he needs to eat and he doesn't have hands!"

Suddenly the Kaiser's hand jerked, yanking the brush with an audible ripping sound, he was rewarded with a clump of hair in his brush. "My god, you have an excuse for everything, don't you?!" He then slammed the brush down on the vanity. "I have Digimon who can do that for you, Davis! With a simple command, I can have any of these Digimon do anything you need them to! Why do you think that is, Davis? Did you think maybe it was so you and I would have unlimited time together? Did you ever think that might be why?!"

Davis flinched slightly, but stood strong. "Chibomon doesn't like the mind-controlled Digimon," he said simply. "And I don't think I'm asking for much when I ask for a few hours with my Digimon. I'll spend the rest of my time here if you want me to, but I need to take care of him too."

"It's a game, Davis! Don't you get it?"

"What?" Davis breathed, looking confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"All of this!" The Kaiser stood, spreading his arms, making a grand gesture as he turned. "This whole thing is a giant game! We're in a game! You and I are players, Davis, as were the other children. We were each given a default pawn to play with and one controlling game piece that allowed our pawn to level up in battles. It's almost like chess, really!" The boy smiled. "I decided I wanted to be game master, so I started to play in a way that would win me the most pawns and the most spaces. Of course to be game master, I also had to beat the other players. That's exactly what I did! It's all a game! Why do you care so much about inferior programmed pawn pieces? It's not even real!"

Davis looked confused by everything the Kaiser said. Even with what Wormmon told him, this sort of behavior just didn't add up. Why would he think it wasn't real? How could he possibly disillusion himself that much? "Was fucking with my life part of the game, too?" he asked suddenly, and rather coldly.

"At first," he admitted, "but then I grew to love you and my desire to keep you stemmed from that." The Kaiser approached Davis and touched his cheek. "But we aren't even ourselves anymore, Davis. We're different people now. We died a long time ago and now this is what we've become."

Davis flinched slightly. "I may look different on the outside, but I'm still exactly the same on the inside."

He frowned. "No, Davis, that's backwards."

"What? How?" Davis asked, even more confusion taking over his expression.

"Because inside us is what's different. Our outsides are still the same old tired forms. Can't you feel it?"

"No..." Davis said, knitting his brow together. "I feel like a total stranger in my own skin thanks to missing four years of my life, but my mind's working the same way it did back then."

"You must feel it too," the Kaiser insisted. "Trapped in your own skin." He stepped back to look down at his own body, fingers ghosting over himself. "Raw power burning to get out. If only we could shed our mortal coils, Davis, and achieve our true potential. It was going to be the two of us, you know." Dark eyes looked back up again into brown. "I'd finally formed this world to my image. Now it was time to harness the new energy I had created to free us. It was the next step. We're meant for bigger and better things, Davis. We could be gods! Don't you see? There's a power inside us greater than we can imagine in these frustrating shells."

"Wh-what?" Davis asked, narrowing his eyes a bit. "Gods? I'm just talking about still feeling like I'm eleven," he said, his shoulders sagging with the weight of the Kaiser's sudden proclamations. "I'm no god material, I'm just a kid."

"Davis, you're not listening." He moved forward again and cupped Davis' jaw in his hands. "I am the greatest being this world knows. I can do anything! I can make you a god. There's nothing in our way. No one power can stop me, Davis. I'm the ultimate divinity!"

Davis turned his face away slightly, frowning, and yet still retaining an impish tone as he asked, "But if it's all a game and none of it's real, how can you be a god?"

"Because then I'll win the game," the Kaiser answered simply. "I'm only game master right now. To win, I need to reach the final level of total control. Once I do that, no player will ever be able to come in and change everything. It will be my world. Real or not. I'll finally get what I want."

"Why do you want control of a world you don't think is real?"

"Because it's better than the alternative. That's why."

Davis watched the Kaiser's face for a moment, then put his hands up. "Alright," he said, the thought only then occurring to him that he still had to play nice with the Kaiser and give him his chance, and he was dangerously overstepping the line between being questioning and starting a fight with him again.

"Good. You finally understand, then." The Kaiser let his arms slip down to drape around Davis' shoulders. Then his body relaxed and practically slumped against the other boy. "I'm tired, Davis..."

"It was a long day," Davis responded, glad to have avoided the fight. The last thing he wanted to do was make the Kaiser angry. Before, it would just mean getting himself hurt, but now he had to think about Chibomon's safety too. So, his hands came to actually pick the Kaiser up and bring him over to the bed, another thing he did with relative ease that felt strange. There was no way he could do that four years ago.

The Kaiser leaned his head against Davis' chest while he was carried and then curled up beneath the blankets of his bed. "You'll sleep with me?" he asked, now getting that lonely look in his eyes again.

"Yeah," Davis said, brushing back the Kaiser's hair before walking around to the other side of the bed. He sat down on the edge as he started to strip off his shoes and socks. His shirt came off next, and then his jeans, so he was left in his boxers to sleep in. All of his clothing found itself piled on top of his shoes on the floor before he crawled under the covers as well.

The Kaiser moved closer once Davis was in the bed. He shifted right up alongside the tan toned body, hand coming to hold a square shoulder and cheek resting on a warm chest. "Did I do good today, Davis?"

Davis swallowed slightly, but managed a light tone and a smile. This sort of behavior from the Kaiser was nice to see rather than the biting coldness of his jealousy. "Yeah, it was really amazing."

The pale boy managed a smile of his own. "Good, because I really want you to stay." His voice was beginning to mumble as he drifted off to sleep. "I love you, Davis..."

Davis inhaled sharply, his mouth running dry. He fumbled for a response, only then noticing that the Kaiser was drifting off against him. So he just reached his hand over and stroked the Kaiser's hair, saying only, "Uh-huh..."


	14. Puwamon

Normally, in the mornings, the citadel was quiet. Maybe there would be the occasional sound of footsteps against the metal floors, but otherwise, silence. Davis would slip out of the hold the Kaiser unconsciously put him in in the middle of the night, awkwardly wiggling until he was free to go get Chibomon and bring him down to the hatchery for his bottle. But while he on the bottom floor heard nothing, those up on the upper floor were woken by the sounds of chirping. Chirping that started quietly, but soon got louder, the voices in the choir seeming to increase as the minutes ticked by. The door to the Kaiser's bedroom had been left open a crack when Davis made his escape from the Kaiser's arms, and through it now peaked a huge, orange eye as the sound of wings flapping filled the hall outside.

The Kaiser frowned in his sleep at the incessent noise invading his ears. What was that? Chirping? What the hell was chirping at this hour? Finally one dark indigo eye cracked open and looked around the room. Davis was gone, as usual. He got down on the floor to look under his bed where he found nothing. He checked under the vanity, behind the dresser, and even in the bathroom. Nothing. It wasn't until he went to the closet and opened the doors that he saw it. A small Digimon composed of nothing but brown and tan feathers with two huge eyes and a string tail was rummaging around on the floor. At first the Kaiser just stared, mouth agape, but then... A shrill scream.

The little Digimon squealed in surprise, its feathers fluffing up as it skirted out into the hallway. Even downstairs, Davis heard the scream. He jumped, nearly dropping the now empty bottle from his hands. "What the hell was that?" he asked, narrowing his eyes as he got up and put Chibomon on his shoulder as he ran upstairs to investigate. When he got to the Kaiser's hallway, his eyes widened to see tons of little feathery baby Digimon all over the hall. They were flapping their tiny wings and hovering around, perching on windowsills, and dominated most of the floor space. One found a place on top of Davis' head as soon as he entered the hallway. "Where did all of these come from?" he breathed as he prodded at the little baby Digimon, which chirped excitedly at him.

"Get away!" the Kaiser screamed. He came bursting out into the hall, hair frazzled, face pale as a sheet, breathing in a panic. Dark indigo eyes widened at the sight before him. So many Puwamon... "You horrid little devils!" he shrieked. That's when the Kaiser raised the spiked dominatrix boot he'd grabbed from the closet and began beating the baby Digimon ruthlessly with it. "How did you even get out?! Die you monsters! Die! Die! Die!"

Davis gasped, eyes going even wider when he heard the cries of pain from the baby Digimon as the Kaiser beat them with his shoe. "Hey!" he barked, dodging his way through the feathered crowd to try and grab the Kaiser's hands and stop him. "What're you doing?!"

"What does it look like I'm doing, you idiot?!" He fought against Davis, continuing to beat each Puwamon until one by one they pixelated back into DigiEggs.

"Davis!" Chibomon cried into the boy's ear. "Those are the same ones from the freezer!" The Kaiser dropped his boot to pick up an egg which he looked upon with wild eyes. "I'm going to do what I should have done in the first place!" With those words, he threw the egg at the wall as hard as he could. The DigiEgg shattered, bursting to dust which failed to reform. A true death. Not missing a beat, he picked up another egg and drew his arm back, ready to throw it as well.

Davis jumped when the DigiEgg hit the wall, and quickly tried to grab the Kaiser's arm to stop him from throwing another one. "Wait, wait!" he pleaded, now trying to take the egg back from the Kaiser. "This is crazy! Is it because they're all the same kind of Digimon? You shouldn't kill them just because of what they are!"

The Kaiser turned on Davis. "Don't you know what they turn into, Davis?!"

"Um, no?" Davis asked, looking surprised. The little fluff-ball still on his head looked anything but threatening. "What could possibly be so bad?"

"Puwamon turn into Crowmon!" he screamed right in the other boy's face.

Davis was quiet for a moment, before looking confused. "And what's wrong with Crowmon?"

"Crowmon are terrible, horrible, awful creatures!" The Kaiser grabbed the front of Davis' shirt. "Their eyes can pierce into your very soul, picking you apart! Their feathers are an unholy black! They're like the night with no moon or stars... A dreadful, lonely black! They have teeth that could rip your flesh in seconds! Talons that could rip you limb from limb! They're flying devils, Davis! I won't have them in my world!"

"But... you have Digimon that look more like devils than crows do already," Davis pointed out, as the Puwamon atop his head crawled down the back of his neck and soon found its way into his loose pants pocket, hiding inside undetected.

He released Davis' shirt, now in wrinkles. The Kaiser was shaking terribly, a cold sweat on his face and neck, and still ghostly pale. "No... No... Crowmon are worse. I won't have them. I won't!" He stepped on an egg causing the shell to crack under his bare foot. "Without Puwamon there won't be any Crowmon!"

Most of the other Puwamon had scattered, and the sounds of controlled Gazimon, Gizamon, and other Digimon scrambling to chase them down were now echoing through the halls. Davis flinched when the Kaiser stepped on one of the eggs, and quickly began to collect the rest of them in his arms. "D-do you have to destroy the eggs? Can't you put them somewhere like you did with the Digidestined's eggs instead?" he asked, trying to sound innocent, since he knew exactly where he could suggest the eggs be put.

"I tried that! I put them all in the freezer room! They were as good as dead in there, but obviously it didn't work! This is the only way to get rid of them!"

"M-maybe you should put some locks on it or something?" Davis suggested, now holding the eggs and backing away from the Kaiser to keep him from destroying any more of them. "I'm sure once the rest of them are caught and turned back into DigiEggs, the other Digimon are just gonna put them back in there, anyway.

"The door was loc-" He froze. That's right... The door was locked. Heavily. There was no way the Puwamon could have gotten out even if they did hatch. Someone must have opened the door. Someone who wanted to see the Digimon set free. Someone who was not a fan of how things were done. Someone who would always be defiant despite the promises they made. "You!" the Kaiser shrieked at Davis. "You broke into the freezer room! It's your fault all these vermin escaped!"

"I-I didn't mean to! I thought it was something else!" Davis stammered, backing up a bit more as sweat started to roll down the side of his face. "Honest!"

But the boy had already snapped. The Kaiser screamed as he ran at Davis and tackled him to the ground, the eggs scattering everywhere. "That room was off limits! Regardless of what was inside, you should not have broken in! A lock means stay out, Davis! Or are you too stupid to understand that!" Suddenly his fist came down on the other's face. Then again. Again and again and again... "Why do you have to be so disobediant?! Is it because you hate me? Why do you hate me, Davis?! Why do you hate me! Why!"

When Davis had been knocked down, Chibomon fell from his shoulder and rolled across the floor. Now he was watching in horror as the Kaiser beat his boy without mercy. His tiny body shook with anger and the pure desire to protect his boy. Somthing in his sparked and suddenly Chibimon was there, looking more determined than ever. "You leave Davis alone!" he barked and used his strongest hop attack to knock the Kaiser away.

Davis had his eyes closed against the blows, but suddenly he heard a very changed voice and his eyes opened, full of disbelief. "Chibimon?" he asked, sitting upright and smiling widely when he saw the little blue and white Digimon standing defensively in front of him. "You Digivolved!" he said excitedly. His face had started to turn red where the Kaiser was hitting him, and when he went to say something else, he coughed, blood splattering across the floor. He gasped, but soon realized he'd just gotten a cut on the inside of his cheek, so he put his hand over his mouth.

"Little rat! I'll get you out of the way first and then your precious human is all mine," the Kaiser said in reaching for the spiked boot.

"No more!" Chibimon barked again. "Hop Attack!" he lunged forward, tiny body harboring a lot of strength, and knocked the boot away.

"How dare you!" the Kaiser snarled while holding his bruising wrist.

"Hop Attack!" Chibimon knocked his shoulder, throwing him off balance. "Hop Attack!" In the stomach to knock the wind out of him. "Hop Attack! Hop Attack!" In the face for retribution. In the side for punishment. "Hop Attack! Hop Attack! Hop Attack!"

"Chibimon, that's enough!" Davis suddenly called out, grabbing his Digimon around his tiny waist, even though he knew Chibimon would be wriggling to attack the Kaiser again. Even after he'd had several punches dealt across his face, Davis didn't like watching his little Digimon attacking the Kaiser.

Chibimon did try to squirm free, but Davis was stronger. "He has to learn!" the little blue Digimon insisted. Red eyes were glaring venemously at the crumpled body of the Kaiser. "He has to learn he can't push us around!"

"I think he got the message," Davis breathed, still doing his best to hold Chibimon back. Chibimon stopped struggling at that point and just snorted at the Kaiser. The other boy still wasn't moving to get up, but his shoulders were shaking ever so slightly as the sound of soft sniffles and whimpers filled the air. Davis looked over at the Kaiser, frowning deeply. "Oh, jeez..." he sighed, looking down at Chibimon and then around at the scattered eggs. "Chibimon, do me a favor," he said, bringing the tiny Digimon close to his face so he could whisper into his ear. He noticed tiny feathers sticking out of his pocket and bit his lip. "Take this little guy to Wormmon's room and put him in your bed. You're gonna take care of him... and find some other Digimon to put these eggs back, okay?" When he was done, he put Chibimon down on the ground and shifted so his back was to the Kaiser, so he didn't see the feathery baby Digimon he produced from his pocket and placed in Chibimon's little paws.

"I'll do it, Davis," Chibimon said with an affirmative nod and holding the Puwamon securely. "But are you sure you'll be okay on your own?"

"I'll be fine, Chibimon. Just go do it," Davis said, jerking his head towards the hallway Chibimon needed to take to get back to Wormmon's room.

"Okay okay," he sighed. Chibimon gathered up the eggs as well, getting them all in a row, and proceeded to push them all down the hall and around the corner. Red eyes glanced back one last time before the two boys were out of his sight.

Davis let out a gentle exhale as he rubbed at the back of his head. What was he going to do with that one last Puwamon? He guessed he'd figure it out later. Done with caring for one baby and immediately on to the next, it seemed. When he was sure Chibimon was out of sight, he turned around again and looked back towards the Kaiser. "I am sorry, y'know. I didn't mean to freak you out like that," Davis piped up unsurely.

"I find it hard to believe," he said through sniffles and quiet sobs, "that anything you do anymore isn't on purpose. You're going to do everything you can until I let you go. Make my life hell, right? Well good luck."

Davis groaned, shaking his head. "I didn't know that those eggs were frozen because the Digimon inside freaked you out. How could I?" he countered, crawling over to where the Kaiser had crumpled on the floor. "I didn't do it on purpose."

"Well I'm sure you didn't set them free by mistake, either. Liberation is never an accident." As Davis came closer, the Kaiser curled further into himself. Unspoken fear.

"Well, it sorta was," Davis said, scratching at the back of his head. "Chibomon just sorta got upset and started busting stuff up, so it got real warm. We didn't go in there meaning to do that, though."

The boy made a wet choking sound before trying to quiet himself. "Then why did you even go in there? It was heavily secured. You had to have forced your way in. Clearly you were up to something."

Davis bit his lip, knowing that anything he said was going to make the Kaiser angry. Think of a good excuse... Eventually, he just sighed. "Okay, I'm not gonna lie," he started, even as he formulated his story in his head. "Chibomon said he thought that it might be the room you had put my D-Terminal in, and I..." Think... "I just wanted to see if my friends ever had sent me any messages, y'know?"

"Well it wasn't in there, was it?!" The Kaiser finally pushed himself up and glared at Davis, revealing where his face was already darkly bruising. "You said you were going to give me a chance, but you're still going around trying to find a way to escape, aren't you?! You lied to me!"

"I wasn't trying to escape!" Davis argued, scrambling to his feet as well. "The D-Terminal wouldn't let me go anywhere! I just wanted to see!"

"You were going to contact them! You were going to send for help! You can't fool me, Davis... You were going to tell them you were still alive. Tell them to find a way to get to you. Then they would take you away from me!"

"How?! You destroyed all of the gates anyway, I know that they can't get here! I may not be smart, but I'm not stupid!" After shouting that, he stopped, looking pensive, but then shook his head. "That's not what I meant."

The Kaiser shook his head. "No, you're infuriatingly clever, Davis. So much so that I had to nearly reduce you to a dimwit with the spiral just so you would cooperate. It was all 'Yes, master' this and 'Yes, master' that. You could barely hold your own thought for longer than a second. I tried to be generous and give you more freedom to think. I gave you the moon and that stupid river, but look what it got me. Despite all my efforts to control you, you still managed to think for yourself. 'I want to go home. I want to love you. I want to be real.' Well I sure hope to hell you're happy now, Davis, because all of this is thanks to you and your thinking."

Davis crossed his arms, pouting in an unimpressed manner. "I don't think total control over someone's a balanced relationship. I mean really, you talk about me putting in effort, but you took a really quick fix, too." He then uncrossed his arms and threw them out to either side of him, like he was presenting something. "Maybe you could try adjusting to me like a normal person! If you like me so much, work with me here! Trying to control me all over again isn't gonna get you anywhere."

The boy flinched when Davis threw his arms out. When he realized there was no intention for violence, he just retorted. "I'm the Digimon Kaiser! You're in my world. I shouldn't have to adjust to anything!"

"Well I'm Daisuke Motomiya, and I'm stubborn, so there," Davis said, putting one hand on his chest and the other one on his hip. The Kaiser was silent for a minute, until he breathed in through his nose and just screamed at the other boy. With that, he stormed back into his room, slamming the door so hard it just bounced back open. Davis closed his eyes against the scream, putting his hands over his head and flinching when the door slammed. When he noticed it was open again, he trotted over to it, promptly stepping inside. "Not cool," he grumbled, as he closed the door after himself.

"Not cool? Not cool?!" The Kaiser spun on his heels to face him. "You want to know what's not cool, Davis? The fact that your little rat nearly tried to kill me."

"He was trying to protect me!" Davis said back. "What did you expect when you assaulted me!?"

"Not this!" he shouted and lifted his shirt to show the big black and purple bruises on his body. "Learn to control him or he gets a dark ring!"

Davis bit his lip, then put his hands up. "Alright, alright, fine, I'll talk to him," he said quickly.

"Good."


	15. Weaknesses

The Kaiser moved to sit at his vanity. His hair was a terrible mess and he just couldn't have that. Brush in hand, he took to working all the knots out and smoothing the strands down. When that was done, he pulled it back into the standard tight ponytail. The Kaiser observed his reflection and turned his head this way and that. He was about to stand up when a few strands fell into his face. Frustrated, he tried smoothing them back into place but they just fell loose again. "Why does nothing ever go right?" the Kaiser shouted and grabbed the scissors from the front drawer to cut the hairs clean off. It seemed to be something that happened often.

Even though Davis wasn't feeling bold after the Kaiser yelled at him, it was simply against his nature to keep quiet as he watched this whole thing. So, at the end of it, he asked, "Why'd you grow your hair out? It kinda makes you look like a girl."

"You wanted me to," was his simple reply.

"Me?" Davis asked, as he slowly approached the vanity. "Why?"

"How should I know?" Dark eyes stared strangely at his own reflection. "I let it grow a little too long once and was about to cut it, but you stopped me. You insisted I looked nice with longer hair and would like to see me grow it out. So I did. It made you happy."

"Hm," Davis hummed, now standing right behind the Kaiser. "Wonder why."

The Kaiser shook his head slowly. "You would spend hours brushing my hair, running your hands through my hair, braiding my hair. It was one of the few things I never asked you to do. You just... wanted to. When I allowed it, you would smile."

Davis frowned a bit, scratching at his chin. Then, he reached forward and took the ponytail in his hands. "Wow, it's soft," he said quietly.

Now the Kaiser nodded. "You... You said that often. You always sounded awed... Like it was magic or something." He choked through a strained smile. "You were always so sweet, Davis."

"You're really lonely, aren't you?" Davis asked forlornly, as his fingers gently ran through the tight ponytail.

"I don't want to be all alone here. I... I'm scared, Davis. I can't be by myself."

Davis sighed quietly, still looking at the dark strands as they passed through his fingers. "I can understand that," he said.

"Then stay with me."

Davis swallowed slightly, then said, "I told you, one shot. I'm... not going anywhere."

"You're staying?" The Kaiser turned in his chair to look up into brown eyes. "It was the city I made, wasn't it? You liked it enough to stay. I did good."

"Well, yeah, I do appreciate that, it's really cool, but..." Davis looked off to the side, then down into the Kaiser's dark eyes. "The reason I'm staying is more about you than that."

He seemed surprised. "Me?" the boy asked quietly. "Wha... What about me?"

Davis scratched at the back of his head, shrugging his shoulders. "I dunno, I mean, you did take care of me all this time, and it's pretty obvious you really want this to work out, so like..." He stumbled over his words as he tried to vocalize what he was thinking. "I'd feel really selfish if I didn't even give you that chance I promised. Plus, you're a bit different than I remember."

"I feel different," the Kaiser admitted, casting his eyes down. "You're my only constant, Davis. I need you around. I feel like... I'd go crazy without you. Like I'd be eaten alive by something scary." Davis just stared at the Kaiser for a moment. It was still so surreal that anyone felt that way about him, let alone the Kaiser. The Kaiser who he'd once respected, and the Kaiser that did something to him so long ago that it made him start to change inside. Changes he didn't recognize back then, but he'd apparently grown into during four years he couldn't remember. As he thought, slowly his hand let go of the Kaiser's hair and slid along the line of his jaw. He swallowed again as his callused hand came to gently cup under the Kaiser's chin. The Kaiser sighed almost silently. He tilted his head into Davis' hand, cherishing the rough skin that touched him so tenderly. Indigo eyes had fluttered shut just cherishing the feeling. And then, after another moment, Davis leaned down and kissed him.

When their lips met, the Kaiser gasped softly and his eyes flew open. Despite the surprise, he didn't pull away or fight back. Instead he just leaned up into the kiss, reciprocating, and his eyes fluttered shut again. The kiss remained for a few more moments, only lips pressing gently against lips, before Davis slowly pulled back, his own eyes only half-lidded. "As far as I remember," he said quietly, "That's my first kiss."

The Kaiser inhaled softly, licking his lips. "That... felt like a first kiss. You've never kissed me like that before, Davis. I... I didn't know you could."

"I didn't know I could either," Davis responded, blushing and glancing to the side.

"It was really good. Did... Did you like it?"

"I'm still really confused," Davis admitted, licking his lips now as well. "L-let me make sure," he offered weakly, before he leaned in and very gently brushed their lips together again. The Kaiser met the second kiss just as gently. It was the first time he ever treated a situation delicately. He was careful, slow, tender, and quiet; like feeding a rabbit without scaring it away. He did venture to touch Davis' face with his fingers though. Davis inhaled suddenly when the Kaiser's fingers touched his face, but he didn't pull back. He continued the kiss until he had to breathe, not moving very far from the kiss and allowing his lips to hover over the Kaiser's, so his breath came out in short, unsure exhales over his lips. "Wh-what am I supposed to do now?" he asked unsurely.

"In all honesty..." Dark eyes looked into brown. "Whatever you feel most comfortable with. If you feel like being done... You can be done."

"O-okay," Davis said, straightening up to full height again and carefully removing his hand. "Sorry," he added with a meek grin as he scratched at the back of his neck.

The Kaiser shook his head. "Don't worry about it. It's... It's actually okay. Really." He stood up, smoothing down his clothes, wincing at the bruises underneath. "I'm sorry to cut our new bonding time short, but there is some work I really must tend to, Davis. Will you be all right for an hour or so?"

"Huh?" Davis looked surprised, but then quickly nodded his head. "Oh, yeah, sure, I'll be fine."

He turned his head curiously. "Would you like to come watch?"

"Come watch what?" Davis asked.

"My work," he said with a small smirk.

"Your work?"

"I could never really show you before since you could never really grasp any of it. You would just stand there and watch. Maybe now I can really explain it to you. You can be more involved in the work I do in the Digital World."

Davis swallowed slightly, a little unsettled, but at the same time incredibly curious. "Well... okay," he said, taking a step closer to the Kaiser and nodding. "Sure, I'll come see."

The boy smiled and grabbed Davis' hand. "Great!" He took off then, dragging the boy through the many halls leading up to the console room he'd been working out of since all of this began. "I don't have a chair for you, but you don't mind standing, do you?"

"Can I sit on the floor?" Davis asked.

"I suppose if you really want to," he answered with a shrug. The Kaiser was never one for sitting on the floor. Dogs sat on the floor, not people. He set to work pulling up a multitude of screens, each one showing a different areas and one grand sized map of the entire Digital World with different colored markings. "This is it."

Davis looked up from where he now sat on the steel floor, leaning back on his hands. "Whoah," he said, looking at all of the different screens. "Did you always have this much... stuff?"

"Yes and no. I work with quite a few less monitors these days, but I have aquired much more over the years. While I was working to obtain the Digital World, I had to work acre by acre across the land; however, now that I own all of it, I can easily divide it up into regions in which I create specific control. You see?" He pointed to the different screens. "Here we have both icelands, these are the three deserts, the jungle, the forest, the two mountain ranges, the tundra, the beach, and the ocean. And this one..." The Kaiser gestured to another screen. "Is us, in the heart of the Digital World. All regions lead to this single point."

"Jeez, I didn't know it was possible to see all of it like that... the most we ever got to see were some white and black squares," he said, looking from one screen to another. "Did you build this all yourself?"

The Kaiser nodded. "I did. It took a while, though, trust me. At first all you could use was the grid imaging that you just referred to. Each square was an acre of land. I needed to keep a closer eye on things, so I developed this technology to make a detailed image of each region. I can track all movements and happenings through my system. Right now I'm working on creating containment centers between each region, but it's a very tedious project."

Davis kept looking around at the screens, seemingly amazed even as he looked at the same one several times over. "I wouldn't have the patience to do all of that. That's pretty cool."

"Well it has been over a year in the making, but I have this desire to come in and work on it every day. The sensation is almost unreal. I can't sleep or eat until I come in and devote time to the project. Isn't that the strangest thing?"

"That's real dedication," Davis said, biting his lip. Even if he didn't agree with what the Kaiser had done, he couldn't deny how impressive it was.

"The hard part is corraling all the Digimon back into their appropriate regions," he said. "I can't set up the containment centers until I do. So far the barriers have pushed them back, but so many of them are still too scattered. Save for the ocean and icelands, of course."

"Why wouldn't they stay where you want them to? Don't you control them?" Davis asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, Digimon are still animals," the Kaiser explained. "You can train a dog and put a collar on it, but if you leave it unattended, it still has the means to wander away. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I guess," Davis said, frowning and scratching at the back of his head. "But Digimon like, talk and stuff. I think they understand more than dogs."

The Kaiser sighed. "You'd think so." He began typing on the console. "Of course it isn't really a matter of getting them to stay where I put them, but to get them all there. You see, the Digimon have naturally spread across the Digital World over the years of their existence. Even before I came here, they were spread out. I want to put them back where they belong. You see, I send out a signal to a handful of Digimon at a time telling them to return to their native region. When they arrive, I receive a signal from their ring or spiral letting me know they're there. Once all the Digimon of that region have returned, I will set up the containment center which will act like an invisible fence."

"Why do you want them like that?" Davis asked. "What's wrong with them being spread out? I mean, if they're living okay wherever they are, what's the harm in it?"

"I desire control, Davis, plain and simple. My world must have order in it. Plus, if I know where all the Digimon are, I don't have to worry."

"About what?"

"Attacks."

Davis tilted his head, looking confused. "But... who would attack you?"

"The Digimon, Davis. Come now. It's obvious." Dark eyes glanced at the one on the floor. "I can't risk letting them roam free. I'd be putting myself in danger if I did."

"But... you control them," Davis said, scratching at the back of his head. "Why would they attack you?"

Hands stopped typing at that point. "Have you ever heard the phrase 'bite the hand that feeds,' Davis?"

Davis scrunched his eyebrows together and shook his head. "No, I don't think so..."

"Animals have the nasty habit of biting the hands that feeds them, Davis. A junkyard dog can be trained to attack strangers, but train it too well, and it will attack it's master as well. You don't remember, but a few weeks ago, you and I were on the roof when a Flymon knocked me off. Luckily you were there to pull me back up. I can't take risks like that anymore, Davis. Look..." The Kaiser pulled one of the screens over; the one of the citadel itself. "You see these colored rings? Each one is a barrier I've installed in the surrounding area. The furthest ring here, the blue one, about twenty miles out, is the minimum guard. Any Digimon with a ring cannot enter. If they do manage to pass through, this green ring here will stop them for sure. It's fifteen miles out. Next is the yellow ring at ten miles. It should prevent spiral Digimon from entering. The orange here at five miles begins severed preventive measures. If they cross this barrier, their rings and spirals will start to shock them unless they back out. Finally, the red ring here at two miles out will deliver a voltage so strong they will be devolved to an egg. Putting all the wild Digimon back in their native regions with containment barriers should keep them away from the citadel in the first place, though. The rings are for emergency protection."

"But I guess they don't stop flying Digimon? I see..." Davis said, looking a little saddened. So even though the Kaiser had finally gained all of the power he wanted and had all of the Digimon under his control, even then he wasn't a perfectly loved leader. It was both confusing and almost worthy of pity. He'd worked for four years and even when he had what he wanted, complete control kept slipping through his fingers. He looked at the red ring and then glanced up at the Kaiser. "How many times has something gotten all the way to the red barrier?"

"Never, other than flying types," he replied. "I'm working on something to set up for sky protection. So far nothing has made it past the yellow ring. A few Megas with spirals made their way through the green, but that was a few months ago. I've increased the power since then. Unfortunately, I can't spread the rings further out or increase the power much more than this. The farther the barriers are from the citadel, the weaker they become. I just can't feed that much voltage across vast distances."

"Uh-huh..." Davis mumbled, a sort of glaze coming over his tone that indicated that the Kaiser was starting to lose Davis' train of thought.

The Kaiser sighed. "I've lost you now, haven't I?"

"Kinda," Davis said, frowning a bit.

"Do you know how radio towers work, Davis?"

"No..." Davis said, shaking his head.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's all right. We can work through this. You listen to the radio in the car, right?"

"Right," Davis said, nodding his head.

"Okay, so have you ever noticed how a radio station starts to turn into static the further away you drive from the city? Like when you go on vacation."

Davis looked up at the ceiling pensively for a moment, but then nodded. "Yeah, okay..."

"Have you or haven't you?" the Kaiser asked again a bit more harshly.

"I have, I have," Davis said, putting his hands up.

The Kaiser sighed. "All right. The radio is nothing but sound waves broadcast out from a radio tower; however, those soundwaves can only travel so far before disappearing. That's why you lose the radio station as you move further away from the location of the tower. More simply put, it's all like the ripples in a pond. When you drop a stone in the water, the ripples start off small and close together. Think of that central point as the radio tower. Now as the ripples move out, they get further apart, right? And then they just wear out. That's the point where the radio station turns into static. Ultimately, this citadel is a radio tower and each barrier ring is a ripple of power. The power can only go so far before dissipating. Understand?"

Davis nodded his head slowly, and then a bit faster as he comprehended the idea. "Ohhh, I get it," he said, smiling slightly. "That makes sense."

"Very good, Davis. So, when I say that I can extend my protection barriers out any further than they already are. It's because..."

"'Cuse they're fading out already," Davis concluded, before stretching and leaning back on his hands again. "Are you gonna quiz me on everything or what?"

The Kaiser shook his head. "I just want to make sure you understand."

"I get it," Davis said, nodding.

"Good." The Kaiser's attention was now back on the console and screens before him. "Now I need to get to work. These Digimon aren't going to heard themselves." So his fingers began moving in a flurry across the keys. One by one little red dots started blinking on the screens and then the dots began to move, showing each Digimon as it followed the command back to its native region. Davis watched the Kaiser work for a long while, but eventually, he'd leaned his head against the Kaiser's chair, bored with watching the little blinking dots, and that only lead to him eventually falling asleep against it, lulled asleep by the lack of activity and the rhythmic drumming of the keys. Hours passed as the Kaiser worked. He managed to secure the jungle and tundra regions, but there was still a lot of work to do. Oh well. Tomorrow was another day. "Davis..." He took to shaking the boy's shoulder. "Davis, wake up. It's time for bed."

Davis grumbled into the side of the chair, waving his hand around aimlessly. "I don't wanna go to bed, I'm sleeping..." he murmured nonsensically.

"Davis, you can't sleep in here. We sleep in the bedroom. Now come." The Kaiser grabbed Davis' upper arm and tried pulling him up, but the tan teen proved too heavy and his own strength proved to be too weak for the job. It took a few moments of the Kaiser tugging fruitlessly on his arm for Davis to wake up, rubbing at his eyes and getting to his feet. He kept grumbling about being moved, but followed the Kaiser's lead towards the bedroom. He just sighed at the other boy and shook his head. "Honestly, you're such a child sometimes." The Kaiser sat Davis on the bed before proceeding to remove his shoes, socks, and pants. All were folded neatly and placed in the laundry hamper. He then went back for the shirt. "Arms up, Davis," he instructed while pulling up on the hem of the shirt. Davis yawned again, but complied and lifted his arms up so his shirt could be pulled up over his head. The shirt was folded with the rest of the things. He contemplated attempting to remove Davis' boxers, but decided in the end it just wasn't worth the effort. So the Kaiser laid Davis back on the pillow, lifted his legs to pull the sheets back, and then tucked him in. The Kaiser proceeded to strip of his own clothing, folded in the hamper, and then climbed into bed next to his... Well, he didn't know what word to use right now. "Good night, Davis."

Davis looked over at the Kaiser with half-lidded mahogany eyes. After a moment, he smiled and moved closer to the other boy, letting one of his arms rest across the slim body next to him. "Night," he said, as he closed his eyes.


	16. Holy Devices

Davis didn't know what was coming over him. He found himself dropping everything that once irritated and angered him about the Kaiser, and saw past it to someone he'd actually been getting pretty close to over the past few weeks. Of course, Chibimon wasn't too happy with this. He still insisted that Davis try and find his Digivice and escape. But while Davis did want to know where his Digivice was, he was more focused on staying and trying to help the Kaiser, like Wormmon kept telling him to do. It was hard to be in the same room with both of them, it was like he was being pulled hard by his arms in two totally different directions. And on top of that, he now had Puwamon to think about, who turned out to be an energetic and spunky ball of feathers that sometimes seemed to think he was Davis' partner instead of Chibimon. Even now, Davis was trying to catch Puwamon as he scurried from the boy's pocket, to atop his head, to his shoulder, to his other pocket while Chibimon watched in a huff. Eventually, Davis just sighed and left Puwamon alone, as the baby Digimon roosted in his hair and cooed happily. Chibimon was not at all happy about their current arrangement. If the Kaiser wasn't taking Davis from him, then Puwamon was stealing all the attention. Who exactly was a chosen Digimon here? Last time Chibimon checked, it was him. Thank you very much. He watched Puwamon with a mean pout at the bundle of feathers came to nest on his boy's head. That would not do. So Chibimon padded around behind Davis and started to jump up and down, trying to grab the string-like tail that Puwamon let dangle down Davis' back. Wormmon was sitting in his nest watching all of this with a fond look in his eyes. "Davis, I can't thank you enough for all you've been doing," he said with a bow of his head. "I can't imagine it's been easy for you, but I knew you would be able to help."

When Chibimon finally hit the very ends of Puwamon's tail, the little Digimon fluffed up and sparks began to fly off his feathers. "Ow!" Davis hissed, feeling like someone conducting static electricity had just touched him. He spun around to see Chibimon as the culprit, and frowned at him a bit, only to offer his arms and hold the blue Digimon to his chest, scratching behind his ears so he wouldn't feel left out. Finally, when he had everything under control, he looked at Wormmon with a grin. "No problem," he said, as Puwamon, who'd started chattering angrily at Chibimon, finally settled back into the spikes of his hair, albeit still puffed up. "It's been a trip, but at least I don't feel as awkward around here anymore. Though..." he sighed, closing his eyes tiredly. "Sometimes it's hard to tell what'll make him happy and what'll set him off."

Chibimon grinned happily and began his own form of purring as Davis cuddled with him. Now this was more like it. Wormmon nodded sympathetically. "Ken was always an easy boy to please, but the Kaiser is far more tempermental. It's like walking on egg shells. Believe me, I know. I like to believe there is still a little bit of Ken left in there, though. Enough that if we can reach him with things he favors, his buried personality can calm that Kaiser's own temper and nerves."

Davis quirked a brow at that theory. "Yeah? What kind of stuff did he like, then?"

"Well..." His antenna twitched in thought. "Ken always loved sweet things, especially strawberries. He liked to hear how well he was doing. Ken didn't get a lot of compliments, so he always cherished any kind thought someone cared to say about him. He wasn't big on meats, but prefered soup and noodles, or even sushi. He was a simple child, actually. Ken appreciated the little things. A smile, a hand to hold, someone to talk to."

"Hmm," Davis hummed, looking pensive. "Noted," he said after a minute, grinning. "Hopefully he still likes all of that stuff."

"I don't see why he wouldn't, why?"

Davis shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno, he's just so pissed all the time. It's weird to think of him as a simple kinda guy."

"You shouldn't waste your energy, Davis," Chibimon piped up. "The Kaiser isn't any less evil now than he was a month ago. I think you've lost sight of the real objective here, and that's getting you home."

"Chibimon, think about it this way," Davis said with a sigh. "I already failed the Digital World once. Maybe if I help the Kaiser... I can help the Digital World."

"The only thing you're doing by helping the Kaiser in encouraging him!" Chibimon insisted. "If you make him happy, he'll just think you approve of what he's done. You to show him that it's not right and you won't stand for it!"

"But if I do that, he might hurt you or put me back under mind control or something," Davis said, shaking his head. "It's too risky, Chibimon."

"Well if we just found your Digivice, then I could Digivolve and take him out," the little blue Digimon said with a grumpy frown. Wormmon made a small noise at this, clicking his pincers together. Violet eyes looked at Davis asking if he'd really allow Veemon that chance.

"I dunno about that, Chibimon. The Kaiser's got an army of thousands to our... three man army," he said, pointing to Chibimon, himself, and then Puwamon. "Ours isn't much. Even with the Digivice, he's still got every Digimon under the digital sun under his command and ready to bust in if anything goes wrong."

Chibimon puffed up his chest and suddenly burst up from Davis' lap, turning and brandishing a tiny paw at the teen. "When did you become so hopeless?!" he accused. "This isn't the Davis I remember! The Davis I knew would be doing everything he could to free the other chosen Digimon and get back home! The Davis I knew would get his friends back together so they could fight the Kaiser as a team again! The Davis I knew... The Davis I knew wouldn't be kissing the enemy and sleeping in the enemy's bed!"

Davis seemed to deflate under his Digimon's words, a blush coming over this face as well. "Chibimon..." He put his head in his hand, leaning his elbow against his knee. "There's only so much one guy can take, Chibimon. We've been trying to do all of that for months."

His attitude immediately died. All of Chibimon's jealousy, anger, and spite was replaced by guilt. He'd been so frustrated that he didn't think about how Davis might be feeling. Sometimes he forgot how long Davis had been under control. To be trapped in time wasn't a big deal for Digimon. They hatched and were still the same. But Davis wasn't like that. Davis grew up into a person he probably didn't even recognize, and all Chibimon had done was make demands. "Davis..." he said softly, little paws coming to rest on the boy's leg. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"I know, Chibimon, but I don't want to see you get hurt, either," he said, as he picked the Digimon up and put him back in his lap. "I know it's not like me, but I'm gonna take Wormmon's advice on this and walk on eggshells or whatever. If we're not careful everything will just fall apart and we'll be back to square one."

"But Davis, if we do find your Digivice, does this mean you still won't use it to get the other eggs out and then go home?" Wormmon shifted nervously in his nest while Chibimon was talking. "I want to see you safe at home. Once we all escape together, we can come up with a better plan, right?"

"I don't know, Chibimon," Davis said, putting a hand on his head, which made Puwamon pounce on his fingers playfully. "It depends on how everything is going. If we need to leave, we'll leave. If not, it'll be our backup plan."

Chibimon was quiet. He took to curling up in Davis' lap and laying his head against the teen's toned stomach. "I wish things were like they used to be," he squeaked softly.

"I know, Chibimon," Davis murmured quietly, once more scratching between the Digimon's ears. "It would make things a lot simpler, that's for sure." As he spoke, Puwamon had noticed the dejected tone of Chibimon's voice, and had crawled down Davis' arm before hopping down onto his leg. The baby ball of feathers observed Chibimon's sad expression and then wiggled over to him, chirping before pressing his fluffy body against Chibimon's side in a gesture that was as comforting as something with no appendages could manage. Chibimon gasped softly when he felt the brushing of feathers against his body. He hardly expected Puwamon to come down and comfort him. At first he didn't know what to do, but in the end, the little blue Digimon just smiled and draped himself over the fluffy Digimon with a cute smile on his face.

But, even in the midst of all the comfort going around, Wormmon had a look on his face like he was about to explode. "I can't do this anymore!" he suddenly shouted.

Davis looked up, eyes wide. "W-Wormmon, what's wrong?" he stammered, not having expected the outburst from the normally calm Digimon.

"I had my orders, but I can't keep lying to you," he confessed. "I know where your Digivices and D-Terminal are. I've known where there are for years!"

Davis' jaw nearly dropped. Even Puwamon had looked up curiously, even though he had no clue what was going on. "What?!" Davis gasped, leaning forward. "You knew where they were!?"

"You have to understand!" Wormmon insisted. "Ken is still my chosen child and my loyalty is to him. If he asks me to help, I can't say no. But... I can't go on with this lie anymore. Ken... He hid the Digivices in the one place he knew no one would ever look."

Davis raised an eyebrow, suddenly no longer mad or shocked, but rather just curious. "Ever? Where?" Wormmon got up from his nest, grabbed onto it with his claws, and pulled it away. There, in a hole in the floor, were the Digivices. All of them. Davis gaped stupidly for a moment before smacking his forehead with the palm of his hand and groaning. "I never woulda guessed..." Then, after a moment, he sighed and reached his hand out, unable to get up with the two Digimon on his lap to get his Digivice back. "Are the D-Terminals there, too?" he asked quietly.

Wormmon nodded. He took each Digivice out one by one, setting them on the floor. He then removed a panel in the floor beneath them to reveal the D-Terminals. "Everything is here..."

Davis' hands came to shakily grab the blue and white Digivice and its matching D-Terminal. He held them in his hands for a moment, unsure of what to feel as he looked at the still shiny surface, untouched from dust thanks to its hiding place. After a moment, he sighed slightly, but still smiled at Wormmon. "Thanks," he said. Even though he felt torn, he still couldn't be mad at Wormmon for concealing the Digivices while they ran all around the citadel looking for him. Wormmon was still just too loyal to Ken to betray him so easily. Davis turned the Digivice over in his hands a few times before handing it down to Chibimon, and then hastily flipped open the screen of the D-Terminal and tried to turn it on.

Chibimon took the Digivice and bounced excitedly on his toes. "I can Digivolve with this!" he said, showing the device to Puwamon.

"I'm sorry, Davis," Wormmon said sadly. "I would have shown you sooner if I thought I needed to. I just knew if I returned them to you right away, you escape the first chance you got. I needed you to give Ken a chance. I had to try."

Puwamon cooed curiously, rubbing his little face against the side of the device. Davis nodded as Wormmon spoke. "I understand," he said, his eyes lighting up when the D-Terminal booted up. Obviously he couldn't contact anyone, since all of the D-Terminals and Digivices lay on the floor before him, but he began to press buttons on the device and check and see if there were any messages on it. His own lie had piqued his curiosity.

'Davis, where are you? You missed class today.'

'Did you go fight the Kaiser by yourself again? You idiot.'

'Davis, this is Kari. We're starting to get worried about you. Contact us, please.'

'This isn't funny anymore, Davis. Come out of hiding.'

'We're serious, man. Stop fooling around.'

'Davis, it's been two weeks. Where are you? Your parents are flipping out.'

'Chibimon is starting to get sick. You need to come home.'

'Davis, are you hurt? Are you in danger? Message us.'

'The police stopped looking, but we won't give up. Hang in there.'

'If you're getting these messages, give us a clue. Are you in the Digital World?'

'The Kaiser is getting stronger. We need you.'

'Davis, please...'

'Davis, where are you?'

At first, Davis smiled a bit at their assumptions. But as his thumb continued to hit the button to scroll down through the messages, his expression soon began to fall. Guilt quickly overcame his expression as he soon realized how much time must have been spent looking for him. He swallowed hard as he read the last two messages, so short and hopeless that they appeared on screen at the same time, and suddenly snapped the D-Terminal shut. Chibimon heard the panel clap on the D-Terminal and he looked up. His face fell and ears drooped when he saw the look of total guilt and despair on Davis' face. He set the Digivice down so he put his paws around the boy's arm in a hug. Or at least the closest he could give to a hug. "They looked every day. They wanted to find you no matter what," Chibimon said quietly.

Davis nodded gently. He'd believed Chibimon when he'd told him that, but it hit him like a ton of bricks when he read those messages. "I can't fail them this time," Davis said determinedly, his free hand making a fist. "I need to save the Digital World... whatever that takes."

"So..." Red eyes looked up, hopeful, but also ready to hear what he might not like. "Are we going home, then?"

Davis frowned a bit, but shook his head. "This is our backup plan. I still want to see if I can either convince the Kaiser to stop, or get the DigiEggs free." He looked down at the Digivice and D-Terminal after picking the white and blue device up. "One way or another, we'll have the means to help the Digital World again. But if anything goes wrong, we'll go back to the real world."

Just as he thought, it was the answer he didn't want to hear. Chibimon wouldn't argue though. He trusted Davis to know what he was doing. Davis was clever like that. "Okay," Chibimon said with a nod. "But if he lays one hand on you, I can't promise I won't fight back."

"And if he tries to hurt you guys, we're leaving," Davis said, offering his Digimon the most convincing smile he could. "But for now, we're gonna save the Digital World." He then placed the devices back down with the others, and noticed that Puwamon had sat himself on top of the red and white Digivice that he knew was Yolei's. "I wonder..." he pondered curiously. "What if the Kaiser doesn't like this kind of Digimon because it can get through his defenses?" He then snapped his fingers, formulating a plan in his mind. "Maybe if we help him get to his Rookie stage, the two of you can finally crack that glass case!"

"That's a great idea!" Chibimon squeaked and jumped excitedly. "Me and Falcomon will have that case open in no time! Only..." He stopped jumping and put a paw to his chin. "I don't think Puwamon being able to fly is why he doesn't like them. I think he's scared of them."

"Is that what their Rookie form's called?" Davis asked, smirking as Puwamon began to spin around, trying to get comfy on top of Yolei's Digivice. "He said he doesn't like Crowmon. But I don't see what the big deal is, he's got stuff crawling around out there that's way freakier than some bird."

"He's right," Wormmon piped up. "Ken is terrified of crows."

"Why?" Davis asked, scrunching his nose up. "Crows can't do anything. Now if he was scared of tigers, I'd understand. But crows?"

Wormmon tapped his claws together. "It's an upsetting story..."

"Everything's an upsetting story with him," Davis sighed.

"It's not his fault," Wormmon warbled defensively.

"I know, I know. I'm just saying," Davis said, putting his hands up.

He coughed. "Yes, well... I'd really rather not say, but... When his brother got hit by a car, it took a while for the paramedics to arrive, and well... I'm sure you know what it is that crows tend to eat..."

It took Davis a second to put two and two together, but after a moment he made a face like he was about to be sick. "Oh man... that's nasty. No wonder he doesn't like them."

Wormmon nodded. "Ken was unfortunate enough to wander outside to try and see his brother at the same time a pair of crows began picking curiously at the body. He's... been terrified of them ever since. And anything resembling them. Hence his fear of the Crowmon."

"I get it... that's gross," Davis groaned.

"Gross!" echoed a tiny chirp of a voice. Davis raised an eyebrow, glancing around before looking down at the little ball of feathers at his feet. "Gross!" Puwamon repeated, his tail feathers fluttering.

Chibimon gasped delightedly. "He can talk now!" He jumped down from Davis' lap and waved his paws excitedly. "Hi! Hi! Hi!"

"Hi!" Puwamon repeated after Chibimon, the tiny wings on either side of his face flapping excitedly.

Davis quirked a brow as he watched. "I didn't even realize he had a mouth under all of those feathers..."

Chibimon just laughed. Next he pointed at the teenager. "Davis! Davis! Davis!"

"Davis!" Puwamon repeated, hovering in the air for a second with an excited flap before he landed back atop the Digivice.

Davis laughed at the little chirping Digimon, and, happy for a change of subject, turned to Wormmon to ask, "Do they all start learning to talk this quickly?"

"It depends on how much attention they receive," Wormmon explained. "You've been taking excellent care of him, so his data is developing much faster than those in the wild."

Chibimon put his paws on his chest. "Chibimon! Chibimon! Chibimon!"

"Ch-ch-... Ch-..." Puwamon stammered, before ruffling his feathers cutely and chirping, "Chibimon!"

Davis looked pensive at Wormmon's words. "I know he's not a chosen Digimon, but do you think he'll be able to get past the Rookie level quickly because he's with me?"

"Digivolve beyond Falcomon? More than likely, no. It's very, very hard for a Digimon to reach Champion without being a chosen, and even when they do, it takes years," Wormmon explained again. "However, you can speed up his evolution up to Falcomon. Regular feeding and parental type attention evolves a baby to In-Training very quickly. From there, if you train him and Chibimon together in controled battles, you can get him to Falcomon quicker than if you were to just leave him alone."

"Well, it's no Champion stage, but I'll take it," Davis said, grinning. "Once he gets to In-Training, we'll start... well... training." He then glanced at his Digivice, and then back at Wormmon. "And do you think... my Digimentals will still work?"

The insect shrugged. "I don't see why not. Ken couldn't remove the data from your Digivices. I told him it was impossible, but he's too stubborn for that."

Davis picked up the device once again and turned it over in his hands. "Did he mess with the insides or something?"

Wormmon shook his head. "They can't be opened. He tried wiping them clean through the use of programs. It would seem your Digivices are nearly indestructable."

"Sweet," Davis said, grinning at the device. "I'd be in real trouble if it stopped working on me."

"Let's just hope they don't fall into the wrong hands again," Wormmon said.


	17. Date Night

Finding his Digivice only heightened Davis' mood. He now felt safe, knowing he had a plan of escape just in case anything went wrong. And with safety came boldness. Instead of sneaking around the citadel looking for the Digivices, he know spent his time training DemiVeemon and Puwamon, who soon Digivolved into Pinamon thanks to the effort. Together, Davis helped the two In-Training Digimon practice and train for when they would finally become Rookies. But, he was sure to balance his schedule to keep the Kaiser happy, as well, so he suspected nothing and maybe, just maybe, Davis could get through to him and avoid a struggle altogether. Today, after the discovery of Pinamon's Piripiri Spark attack, Davis had called it a day early to head back to the Kaiser's room, hoping that he could pleasantly surprise him today with everything that Wormmon had been telling him about the last few days. He knocked on the door, only to open it anyway a second later. "Hey, you here?"

The Kaiser had been so pleased with Davis' cooperation that he didn't feel the need to suspect anything. Davis never gave him a reason to. Even better was that the boy wasn't giving him a hard time about the state of the Digital World. Maybe Davis had finally come to realize that everything the Kaiser had done really wasn't so bad. So all the Digimon were under complete control of teenage megalomaniac who was so paranoid about their revolution that he kept them trapped in invisible electric fences. Could be worse. "I'm in the closet," he answered when he heard Davis calling for him from out in the bedroom. The Kaiser was currently stripping from some leather garb to into something more comfortable.

Davis stifled a snicker and a joke as he entered the room. Focus. "I was just, uh..." Davis started, sauntering over to the closet door and standing on the opposite side of it, "Wondering if you'd like to go get sushi or somethin'."

"Sushi?" his voice chimed curiously. Almost immediately the Kaiser poked his out from around the door. "Salmon sushi?"

"Sure, if that's what you want," Davis said, shrugging his shoulders casually.

"With tonkatsu and aioli sauce? And pork gyoza?"

Davis scratched at the back of his head slightly, grinning meekly. "If they have all of that stuff in digital Odaiba, sure. I never did get sushi much."

The Kaiser ducked back into the closet where he rifled through all the racks looking for something to wear. He finally decided on his high neck, sleeveless number with the low cut black jeans that showed off his smooth stomach. He came bursting out of the closet and rushed to the vanity so he could redo the tight ponytail. "Ready!" the boy said when he was done nitpicking at himself.

Davis looked surprised at how excited the Kaiser was to go get sushi. He knew he liked it, but he hadn't expected that sort of reaction. "Alright, let's go, then." Again wracking his brain, he smiled and added, "You look good," before he turned to lead the way out of the citadel.

"You think so? It's so good of you to notice, Davis." He followed the other boy out, jogging a bit to catch up and take hold of Davis' hand. "How did you know I loved sushi?" the Kaiser asked with a coy grin. "I try to not let myself eat it too much. I'd eat it all time if I could. It's just so good."

Davis smiled, shrugging his shoulders again. "Lucky guess," he said, only to gesture with his free hand as the other one squeezed the one it now held. "Though I did noticed you didn't look too thrilled when we went to eat anywhere else."

The Kaiser shrugged. "Guilty." When Davis squeezed his hand, he laced their fingers together. The door to the outside was opened and the couple stepped out onto the sidewalk. He'd been working on the people. There were still repeats in design, but they happened less frequently since he'd made a few more. The Kaiser had even programmed in some animals, but they were always seen in the same place. An orange cat on a terrace, and a dog tied up at a park bench where its master was reading the paper. Faces were a bit more defined as well with noticable features, but all the eyes were the same brown, the noses either turned up or down, and the mouths sort of just opened and closed when talking.

Davis had learned to ignore the people mostly, though he had complimented the Kaiser on the changes. They were still weird, but his mood had been soaring too high to care much about what the digital people were like. He lead the way to the small sushi shop that they hadn't set foot in once. It was just too humble and neat for Davis to notice it much, unlike the large, busy establishments and their faster food that he seemed to prefer. He glanced around at the small, hand-carved wood tables that sat low to the ground and the cushions beneath them to kneel on, and then noticed a sign with 'Please sit and wait for service' scrawled across it in hand-written kanji. "I don't even remember this place," he admitted, glancing around at the traditional artwork that adorned the walls.

"Probably because you never cared to notice it. This sushi bar was established when Odaiba was first built in 1853. All the defense soldiers working on the island could come eat here for a traditional home-style meal," the Kaiser explained. "I'll admit I always found it very quaint and attractive." He pulled Davis along to a table near the wall. He knealed down on one said and gestured for the other boy to sit across from him. "They're going to serve us tea and miso soup, Davis. It's customary in a traditional dinner. Put your napkin in your lap and don't slouch."

"Um... okay," Davis said, sliding his knees under the table and awkwardly unfolding his napkin, not realizing a pair of chopsticks were going to fall out of it. He gasped and grabbed them before they could hit the floor, and placed them down as he put his napkin on his lap like he was told.

"Do you know how to separate the chopsticks, Davis?"

"That I know," Davis said with a laugh, taking the chopsticks apart with a gentle snap. He then pouted a bit. "What, you think I can't figure out chopsticks?"

The Kaiser simply shrugged. "Some people try to take them apart at the top instead of at the bottom. Of course that's how you end up breaking them. Oh! Here's our tea." A woman in a seafom green kimono with her hair done up in the traditional shimada style came to their table. She knelt down, setting a tray on the table, and proceeded to pour both boys a cup of tea. The cups were like narrow bowls made of clay, painted in blue and brown, and glazed for stability. The Kaiser bowed his head and the woman did the same before getting up and leaving. "You might want to blow on it. Could be hot," he warned, wrapping his fingers around his cup and also letting it sit in his flat palm.

"I've never had tea," Davis said, frowning at the tea as he spun the cup around a few times on the table. After he blew on it a few times, he lifted it to his lips and took a taste. He again made a face before putting it back down on the wood table.

"You don't like it?" the Kaiser asked with one brow raised.

"It's kinda tasteless to me," Davis said, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

All he did was nod. The Kaiser called the woman back over and mumbled something into her ear. She giggled with a nod of her own and hurried off. When she came back she had a small glazed jar with her and a small spoon. She set them on the table, bowed, and left. "There's honey in there," the Kaiser said. "Just lift the lid and dip the spoon in. Don't let the honey just drip into your tea, though. Put the spoon in your drink and stir gently until the honey dissovles."

"Um... okay," Davis said, nodding. He did as the Kaiser told him too, though he overdid it slightly on the honey. Still, when he tasted the tea again, a grin came over his face. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

"I thought you might like that," he said with a smile. Soon they were served the soup which the Kaiser told Davis could just be drunk from the bowl if he liked; however the Kaiser prefered the deeply carved spoon provided for them. Finally they ordered. The Kaiser asked for a special called The Snake Charmer which was hamachi, salmon, kanikama, green onion, and spicy tuna wrapped in smoked salmon skin that was slowly toasted. He was also given two bowls of tonkatsu and aioli sauce for dipping.

Davis, on the other hand, just sort of shrugged and asked for whatever they had to offer when it was his turn to order, and in return got a sample plate of various types of sushi the store offered. He took his chopsticks in his hands and started to pick at the different types, deciding what he did and didn't like. He almost started to talk with his mouth full at one point, but, remembering the Kaiser's numerous scoldings about his tendency to do so, swallowed before he asked, "So, how's uh, work going?"

The Kaiser wiped his mouth clean before answering. "It's going really well, actually. I've managed to secure three more regions. The beach was much easier than I anticipated. I was also surprised to see how few Digimon actually inhabited the desert. The forest is the most recent of the three. All I have left are the mountain regions, but getting the Digimon to settle is difficult. It seems territory is a touchy subject out there."

Davis nodded as he listened, nibbling on the different types of sushi. "I don't think I've ever been up in the mountains," he said after a few moments of pondering. "Only through the forests and a desert once or twice."

"A lot of the larger birds and dinosaur types live in the mountains," the Kaiser explained. "Of course they turn into a volcanic region to the south, but I still consider it the mountains since there a lot of them around. Naturally you'll find heat powered Digimon there. It wasn't hard containing that area since most of the native volcanic Digimon never left the area. They need the heat, I suppose."

"That makes sense," Davis said, nodding. "I still think it's weird that you need to round them up like that, but you're doing a good job of it. Your dedication's admirable," he said, taking words straight out of Wormmon's mouth simply for a lack of knowing how to properly rephrase them.

The black-clad boy smiled. "You're so cute when you use big words, Davis."

Davis looked up surprisedly, and then snorted with a bit of a meek smirk as he went back to his sushi. "Yeah, yeah."

Of course then the smile fell into a frown. "Davis, normally when someone compliments you, you respond with a 'thank you.'"

"Hm?" Davis hummed, looking up with a confused look. "I thought you were makin' fun of me."

"No..." There was just a touch of hurt in his eyes. "I'm trying to have a nice dinner with you, Davis. Why would I ruin it by making fun of you? That would be rude."

Davis still looked confused, but then scratched at the back of his neck sheepishly and smiled a bit. "Sorry... thanks. It's just usually when someone says something like that they aren't serious."

"Well I was being serious," the Kaiser huffed. "You're welcome." With that, he picked up his tea and took another sip, eyes deliberately closed now.

Davis glanced around guiltily at that reaction. That wasn't what he meant to do. "Hey, um," he started, "Do you like..." What was that? He peered at one sort of sushi he hadn't particularly liked on the first try, now with three untouched rolls sitting at the corner of his plate. "Eel?"

The Kaiser offered a weak shrug. "It's not my favorite, but I don't dislike it. Dipped in a good sauce I could probably enjoy it," he answered. Davis looked at the small sauce bowls on the table and dipped one of the rolls into it, before lifting it back up and leaning across the table, offering it to the Kaiser with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm immune to puppy eyes," the Kaiser warned as he leaned in to take the eel roll from between the chopsticks. His tongue came out first, tapered slightly, and wrapped around the sushi. He then drew it into his mouth slowly, licking pale lips as he did so. "Not too bad... I think you're missing out, Davis."

Davis watched this carefully and felt his tan skin heating up a bit, licking his lips and offering another eel roll as he said quietly, "Yeah, I definitely am." The Kaiser just hummed amusedly. He leaned in again for the next eel roll. This time he noticed as the sauce began to drip, so he took to licking it up slowly, using only the tip of his tongue to do so. Satisfied that a mess had been avoided, the boy coiled his tongue around the roll once more and drew it slowly into his mouth.

Davis swallowed dryly, now putting a hand over his hot cheeks. What in the world was going on? The poor boy looked completely confused as his still young mind confusedly felt the affects of teenaged hormones on his body that he was not at all used to. The Kaiser smirked. "Are you all right, Davis?"

Davis hastily swallowed and moved his hand to offer his best convincing smile, though this exposed the blush still creeping across his cheeks. "Fine, I'm fine," he said quickly.

"No, I don't think you are." The Kaiser called again for the woman who came hurrying over the best she could in the fitted kimono. She leaned down as he whispered in her ear. Now she giggles, something she might be programmed to do, and nods. "Come Davis. Don't dawdle," the Kaiser said in standing and following the woman.

Davis looked surprised, quirking a brow as he shifted out from under the table, only to realize rather embarrassedly that he didn't want to move from where he was sitting. But the Kaiser and the woman were leaving and he groaned as he got to his feet and trotted after them. She slid open a very old fashioned door made of wood crossings and rice paper. When the two boys were inside she just giggled with another nod and slid the door closed. The room was a bit small, perhaps only seven feet by seven feet. The sliding door cornered with a rice paper screen on one side and a grey-red wall on the other side. A small table was pushed against the far wall under a wall scroll of a tiger. Four white paper lanterns hung in each corner from the ceiling, tiny candles flickering inside. "Having some trouble with your big boy feelings?" the Kaiser finally asked with a coy smile.

Davis had looked confused when they entered the small room at first, but at the Kaiser's words, the expression was replaced with one of embarrassment again. "A-apparently," he said, folding his hands in front of himself and biting his lip a bit. "I mean, I guess I totally missed puberty..."

"Understandable," he replied with a nod. "Maybe a little exploration can lead to discovery." And the Kaiser moved forward, sauntering with a purposeful sway of his hips. He wrapped his arms around the taller boy's neck and grinned. "I think my tongue is what caught your attention, so..." The Kaiser pushed up on his toes and licked behind Davis' ear.

"Ah!" Davis gasped, his eyes closing as his blush grew at the sudden contact. He swallowed again and laughed nervously, just because he had no idea what else to do.

The pale boy grinned as his tongue lapped at the warm skin of Davis' neck. "How do you feel?" he asked and clamped his teeth on the other's earlobe.

Davis gasped again. "My body's doing weird stuff," he whined quietly.

His hand snuck its way down to boldly cup the front of Davis' pants. "Down here?"

"Nn! Y-yes, down there," Davis breathed, his voice sounding like he was being tortured.

"Good," the Kaiser chuckled. "You're supposed to." He guided Davis down onto the floor where they sat across from each other. "Now tell me, Davis. Do you like what you're feeling?"

Davis made something of a whining noise as the Kaiser moved away and sat him on the floor. "It's just weird," he said embarrassedly. "I don't really like it, it's uncomfortable..."

He chuckled again. "That's because you've gotten bigger than your pants are willing to hold. I was quite intrigued with you, Davis. You really did grow into a big boy over the years."

Davis scrunched his eyebrows together as a confused pout took over his lips. "Wh-what?"

"Just watch." The Kaiser reached forward, using slender nimble fingers to unbutton Davis' pants and slid the zipper down slowly. A careful tug on the boxers and... The Kaiser grinned delightedly as he always did when Davis' ampleness was revealed. "Such a big boy," he purred.

Davis' eyes widened a bit as he leaned back on his hands. "Whoah," he breathed, only to laugh nervously as he glanced back up at the Kaiser. "Talk about changes..."

"Indeed," he replied a bit dreamily. "I half expected it, though. Even as a youth you were granted more generosity than most. I suppose you just never gave it much thought. You certainly did blossom, though. Now..." The Kaiser wrapped his fingers firmly around Davis' length and pulled slowly. "How does that make you feel?"

"Hnn!" Davis gasped with surprise, leaning his chin down into his chest and his fingers coming to claw a bit at the floor. "Weird," he breathed first, blushing. "...Good," he added quietly after a moment.

The Kaiser just grinned. "And this?" His hand abandoned the boy's length so both could slip up under his shirt and thumb the two dark nubs there.

"Nm..." Davis breathed. He didn't seem as embarrassed by that, just rolling his head back and his toes curling a bit. "G-good," he repeated breathily.

"Tit for tat, Davis," the Kaiser said in pulling away. He leaned back on his own eyes while staring coyly at the other boy. "Now find something on me you want to touch."

Davis slowly inched towards the Kaiser, feeling awkward in his partially undone clothing and exposed self while staring down at the Kaiser. "I-I guess..." he started unsurely, his hands coming to rest underneath the Kaiser's shirt, on his stomach. Davis' rough palms then travelled up the Kaiser's torso slowly.

The boy hummed. "Very good, Davis. I like that." Davis licked his lips, leaning down as his hands moved upwards. Soon, his fingers were doing the same to the Kaiser as had been done to him a moment ago as some sort of dormant memory seemed to open up in his mind, and his lips brushed over the soft skin of the Kaiser's stomach. Now he inhaled sharply through his teeth. "Davis..." The Kaiser leaned forward. One arm wrapped around broad shoulders while the other reached down to begin stroking again, his face pressed into a warm tan neck, kissing.

"Ohh..." Davis at once shivered at the multiple places the Kaiser touched, his eyes closing against the overwhelming feeling. Still, his hands continued to work, and his mouth even found occupation to stifle his contented groans by nibbling and biting gently at the skin just between the Kaiser's shoulder and neck.

"Do you like it?" the Kaiser breathed heatedly into Davis' ear causing moisture to bead on the shell.

"Y-yeah," Davis gasped, his body shivering again when the Kaiser's hand tightened a bit as it moved. Davis could feel sweat starting to roll off his forehead as he leaned into the crook of the Kaiser's neck, now started to pant and groan with less inhibition.

The Kaiser tilted his head back long enough to move to the other side of Davis' neck where he suckled on the skin feverishly, hand moving faster as he did so. "Davis... I've never done this for you before. Remember it. Cherish it." Davis opened his mouth to answer, but all he could vocalize was a long, satisfied groan. His fingers dug into the Kaiser's sides, toes curling, eyes closing, and he managed a few more panting breaths before his breathing hitched, and the boy released into the Kaiser's hand with another choked moan. The Kaiser just sighed softly when Davis was done. Pulling his hand back he proceeded to wipe it clean on a nearby cushion. He didn't pull away, but instead remained sitting and sort of cradling the other boy against him. "Do you feel better?" he asked quietly.

It took a few moments for Davis to regain his breath, panting slightly before he sighed into the Kaiser's skin, "Y-yeah..." His hands clutched a bit harder at the Kaiser's sides, and suddenly, he'd again bitten gently on the skin he'd been moaning against and began to suckle on the paler skin.

The pale boy flinched slightly. "D-Davis...?"

Davis lifted his lip slightly, brown eyes looking upwards. "It's not fair if only I get to... r-right?"

"Davis..." He couldn't help the infernal dusting of pink on his cheeks. "You aren't ready yet..."

Davis couldn't help but grin slightly when he saw that. "I have to be fair," he said firmly, as his hands started to slide down the Kaiser's sides and his fingers soon found themselves trailing the hem of his pants. "Do you not want me to?"

The Kaiser shook his head sternly. "I just don't need you to, that's all."

Davis looked confused now, everything stopping as he glanced up again. "But do you want me to?"

He huffed stubbornly. "If I needed it, then yes, I would want you to."

Davis frowned a bit, but lifted his hands away and leaned back a bit with a nod. "Okay," he responded, as he slowly started to re-adjust his clothing and clean himself off.

"It's not your fault," the Kaiser said perhaps a bit too casually. "My needs are something you aren't ready to meet yet. Not even willing to, I'm sure. Let's just... work on you, all right?"

"Yeah, okay," Davis murmured, making faces at his own sticky fingers, fixing his shirt and rather awkwardly pulling his boxers back up and refastening his jeans. Then, brown eyes glanced up into indigo for a very brief moment. "Thanks."


	18. Just Desserts

The Kaiser returned the gaze with a weary sort of smile. "You're welcome, Davis." He then leaned forward and kissed the boy on the cheek. "Thank you for dinner. It was very delightful. I had a good time."

Davis nodded, looking at the floor as he blushed and very shakily got to his feet. "I'm glad," he said, eyes then glancing around the very small room before he said, "Is there anything else you want to do before we go back?"

"I feel like frozen yogurt," he replied while tucking some stray hairs behind his ear. "I believe there's a place the next block over."

"Sure," Davis said quickly, still straightening out his clothing. "We can do that."

The Kaiser nodded. "Good." He walked to the sliding door and stopped. The Kaiser stood there for a few brief moment before staring at Davis and coughing rather bluntly.

Davis looked over at the other boy with a confused expression when he heard that cough. His eyes caught the staring ones and he only quirked a brow. "What?"

He sighed heavily. "Really?"

"What?" Davis repeated.

"The door, Davis?"

"O-oh," Davis stammered, quickly walking over to the door and taking it by its side before sliding it open.

"Thank you," the Kaiser said, though it had more of an inflicition of 'Finally...' and walked out. He waved to their waitress so she knew they were leaving. Once at the main door, he again stopped and waited. And again, Davis made his way over to the door and opened it for the Kaiser. As the other boy walked through, he looked back at the waitress, who looked at him with a look that was far too knowing for a digital person to wear. So Davis bit his lip embarrassedly before following after the Kaiser. "You really do need to learn better manners, Davis," the Kaiser said as they walked down the street. "I'd be hesitant to take you out in public again until you do. And it's not like they're such hard things to remember. Just little policies here and there. I had trained you with them fairly well, but obviously all the lessons are gone from your head now. Looks like some reconditioning is in order."

"Well sorry," Davis said, with a bit more childish snarkiness than he intended as he sped up a bit to walk next to the Kaiser rather than trail behind him.

"Well it isn't that hard, Davis," he returned. "A gentleman always opens the door for his date. Even a toddler knows how to use Please and Thank you. And when you're in a formal setting, you need to be on your best behavior." The Kaiser glanced over his shoulder. "You aren't a pig farmer, Davis. I'm sure your parents raised you with a bit of decency." Davis opened his mouth to retort, his face showing that he was obviously ready to start defending himself. But at the mention of his parents, the words died in his throat and he closed his mouth, looking down at his feet. "Don't slouch, Davis," the Kaiser sighed, having totally missed the problem.

"'M not slouching," Davis responded in a mumble.

The Kaiser stopped in front of the other boy, turning to face him and brush his fingers under a firm chin. "Head up, shoulders back, chest out... There, that's better," he finished with a smile.

Davis' back made a slight cracking noise when the Kaiser stood him straight up, and he sighed and said, "Thanks," as he winced, rolling his shoulders.

"You're a handsome young man," he insisted. "You should present yourself like one. I know you aren't used to your new height, but standing tall is important. It makes you look proud and confident."

"Mm, it is hard to get used to," Davis said, scratching at the back of his neck as he decided to let the comment about his parents go. There was no point getting in a sour mood with the Kaiser, he either didn't notice or just got counter-upset at Davis just for being upset, one of the biggest injustices in relations ever.

The Kaiser just nodded knowingly. "Don't live in the past, Davis," he said, implying a number of things without saying them, and then resumed walking. "At least you're taller than me now," he said with a small smile. "You must like that."

Davis was left standing there for a moment before he trotted after the Kaiser, catching up to him again a few seconds later. "Yeah, I guess that is kinda cool," he said with a bit of a laugh. "We were pretty close back in the day, though."

"Mhmm, but I think you still had an inch or two on me. Most people did. It was rather annoying. Ken was never as tall as Osamu and I think it bothered him. I just don't like being shorter because then people don't take me seriously. Such insecurities irk me, yet I can't seem to shed myself of them. Same with my fears." The Kaiser shrugged. "To err is human, I suppose, but that bothers me, too."

Davis seemed a little lost by the end of the Kaiser's little ramble, so he just shrugged his shoulders and offered, "Well, you're a lot taller now, too."

The Kaiser considered this and nodded. "I suppose I am. Thank you, Davis." It was about this time that they arrived at the ice cream place. The Kaiser stopped at the door and waited patiently this time, convinced Davis would be more punctual about it. This time, since Davis was walking next to the Kaiser, he quickly reached his arm out and swung the door open. He smiled with a bow of his head and entered the little frozen sweets shop. There was a young man there with bleach blond hair set against dark brown eyes. Over his light purple t-shirt was an apron with a penguin eating a creamsicle on it. "Welcome," he recited. "What can I get you?"

"I want a double scoop of your strawberry frozen yogurt," the Kaiser answered without even having to think. "Put it in a cup with just a light drizzing of hot fudge."

Davis pressed his hands against the glass case displaying the different flavors. His eyes ghosted over the vanilla, and he thought for a moment before quickly shaking his head and pointing to some brightly colored flavor of yellow dashed with other colors; apparently simulating a birthday cake. "This. Waffle cone."

"One scoop or two scoops, customer?" the young man asked, not being able to distinguish genders.

"Two," Davis answered with hesitation.

"Toppings, customer?"

"Sprinkles," Davis responded, glancing up with a strangely serious look on his face, only to say, "Not chocolate, the rainbow ones."

"Yes, customer," he said with nod and then started scooping their ice cream.

The Kaiser could only offer a mild shrug. "I'm still working on their recognition software. Right now, all they know to call us is 'person' or 'customer.' I apologize if that... weirds you out."

"Could be worse," Davis said with a shrug, still looking at the ice cream. Obviously he wasn't paying too much attention to the way the man at the register was speaking when there was ice cream involved.

The Kaiser couldn't help a smile on his pale lips. "You really like ice cream, don't you?"

"Mhm," Davis murmured, looking up at the Kaiser with a grin. "Ice cream's delicious."

"I guess we'll have to come back here this weekend," he said.

The young man gave them each their dairy treat, saying, "Enjoy, customers."

The Kaiser chose a spot near the window where they could watch the people walk by. "I must admit, Davis. I've had a lovely time so far."

"Me too," Davis said, already licking at the ice cream he'd been given. He'd wasted no time in starting to suck down the frozen dessert. When he sat down across from the Kaiser he'd already almost completely licked off all of the sprinkles.

The boy laughed. "Slow down, Davis. You'll get an ice cream headache." He dipped his spoon into his own frozen yogurt and ate the stuff slowly, savoring the sweet of the fruit and the sweet of the chocolate together. The Kaiser took to sucking on the spoon during one particularly large bite, blushing and humming softly.

"Psh, I don't get brain freeze," the boy bragged as he continued to slurp down the cake-batter tasting ice cream. Of course, he did eat a bit too fast and eventually stopped with a hiss, holding his head. "Ow, damn..." He continued for a moment only to grin when the sting went away, and, not learning his lesson, went straight back to quickly eating the ice cream.

The Kaiser rolled his eyes. "Davis, honestly." He put his hand over the ice cream to get the boy to stop. "You can't enjoy it if you're just horking it down. Savor it. Here..." He offered a spoonful of the strawberry and hot fudge. "Try this, and actually take the time to taste it."

"But-" Davis whined, only to stop when the spoon was in his face. Not one to turn down free sweets, he did as he was told, though he prodded fun at the concept by taking an incredibly long time to part his lips, lean towards the spoon, and then close his mouth around the spoon.

He watched, unamused by Davis' antics, but then smiled as he watched the other boy eat. "Does it remind you of anything?"

Davis swished the ice cream around in his mouth for a while before shrugging and swallowing. "Strawberries and chocolate?" he asked, just pointing out the obvious.

The Kaiser laughed softly. "Well yes, but not quite what I was looking for. That's all right, though. I'm sure it will come to you eventually." He moved his hand to let Davis back at the ice cream cone and resumed his own small bowl.

Davis looked confused, but offered his cone after a moment. "Mine tastes like cake batter. Wanna try?"

"I'll give it a try, yes." The Kaiser leaned forward and ran his tongue around the side of the treat. He pulled back, smearing the ice cream in his mouth, and then nodded. "Pretty good," he admitted. "Ice cream is terribly fattening, though. That's why I prefer frozen yogurt." The Kaiser lifted his paper bowl at the words. "Helps keep me in shape."

"Psh, you can eat whatever you want as long as you're active," Davis said with a grin. "At least I do, and there isn't an ounce of fat below my neck."

"No..." The Kaiser leaned forward with a grin on his lips and chin resting on the back of his wrist. "All the fat's in your head, isn't it?"

Davis thought for a second, running the Kaiser's words over in his head. "Ohhh," he suddenly murmured, "Is that what that saying means?"

He just smiled coyly. "And what does that saying mean, Davis?"

"That I have a fat head?" The boy frowned at that. "I thought that saying was a compliment."

The Kaiser tilted his head. "Would you like it to be a compliment, Davis?"

"Well yeah, I thought she was just calling me skinny. Guess not," the boy mumbled, bringing his ice cream back to his lips and sucking on it from the top sourly.

Now the Kaiser frowned. "Who said that to you?"

"Some girl," Davis said with a sigh, waving his hand. "They don't like me very much."

One pale hand slammed down on the table suddenly. The Kaiser looked oddly enraged for a second before exhaling slowly and leaning back. "Well she sounds like a royal bitch," he huffed.

Davis looked surprised, leaning back a bit when the Kaiser leaned forwards. "Uh..." he started, only to laugh nervously. "It's really nothing. All girls pretty much treat me like that."

"It's an insult, Davis. Having a fat head means a person is dull and stupid." The Kaiser crossed his arms and legs at the same time. "You and I are close enough that we can trade jokes like that, but she had no right to make fun of you like that. You might not be book smart, Davis, but you're smart in your own right. I've seen intelligence grow in you over the years. You're very clever and are capable of understanding just about anything once it's been explained to you." He shook his head sporadically. "This girl, she.... She's the one with a fat head!"

Davis smiled, reaching across the table and patting the back of the Kaiser's hand. "Thanks," he said first, only to shake his head and grin again. "But really, I'm used to it. Girls just don't like me 'cuse I'm obnoxious," he said, shrugging and leaning back in his chair.

"You'd be painfully boring if you weren't," the Kaiser said, now sounding calmer. "You might annoy the shit out of me sometimes, Davis, but I don't know what I would do without you around to cheer me up."

Again, Davis smiled. "Thanks," he said a second time. He licked at his ice cream a few more times, catching some that was trying to escape down the side of the cone, before he added, "You're pretty good company yourself."

Slim fingers began fiddling with his hair. "Well I know I am."

Davis rolled his eyes, but still smiled. "Course ya do," he said, before he went back to intently stopping his ice cream from reaching his hand.

"...Davis?"

"Mhm?" Davis asked around his ice cream.

Indigo eyes stared into mahagony brown. "Would you call me master if I... asked... you to?"

Those brown eyes flickered a bit, and he raised an eyebrow. "What? Uh..."

"Only on special occassions," he explained. "Not all the time."

Davis glanced to the side, then looked back at the Kaiser. "I don't think we're there yet."

Dark eyes fell down to the table. "Oh, I see..." The Kaiser nodded meekly. "All right. That... That's okay."

"Sorry," Davis added, though he wasn't sure why he was apologizing, and looked at the table as well as he returned to his ice cream to occupy his mouth so he didn't have to speak again.


	19. Shaking the Ground They Stand On

Both boys were quiet for a while as they ate in awkward silence. Davis had insisted on being fair and pleasing the Kaiser earlier, but the dark-haired boy had become too accustomed to hearing certain things in the throws of pleasure, and now he couldn't get excited without them. Would it really be so bad for Davis to call him master when they were together like that? Just think of it like a pet name. That would be the excuse he offered, but doubtfully the other boy would buy it. The Kaiser was about to speak we he heard a deep rumbling sound and the floor beneath them began to shake. Davis gasped, looking down at the table as the spoon that had been provided for him and ignored because to clink rapidly as it hit the tabletop. "Earthquake?" he asked, glancing outside.

"We don't get earthquakes here," The Kaiser said. He stood up and wandered outside the door. He was about to head down the block to see what was happening, but he was just heard screaming instead. "Davis! Davis, we have to run!"

Davis dropped what was left of his cone and rushed outside. "What's wrong!?" he gasped as he came up beside the Kaiser.

"No! No, run!" The Kaiser turned on his heels with a stampede of Monochromon bearing down on him. "They've gotten through!"

Davis' eyes went wide and he at once turned and ran after the Kaiser, going as fast as he could. His own speed started to amaze him and he grabbed the Kaiser's hand to pull him along faster. "Where's the next ring?!" he asked, panic rising in his voice.

"It's five blocks away!" he shouted back. "We have to turn left up here!" The Kaiser tried his best to keep up with Davis. He was in good shape, but he was small and still tired easily. The boy stumbled just before the turn and cried out when he felt a sharp pain slice up the back of his leg. "Run, just run!" he said, using Davis' hand to pull himself back up. Davis looked over his shoulder when the Kaiser stumbled, and without thinking grabbed the boy around his waist, slung him over his shoulder, and kept running, to the speed that he was nearly sprinting. The Kaiser yelped in surprise when he was thrown over Davis' shoulder. Sure he didn't have to run on his own, but now he could see the Monochromon and how close they still were. Red glowing eyes were wide and wild, their heads thrashing about, mouths foaming slightly from exertion. He hated when their minds got so lost in the dark rings that they lost all common sense and truly were reduced to raging animals. "Run! Run!" he cried in panic. "Run!" Just when the Kaiser was afraid they would be trampled, all the Monochromon collided and were thrown back. They all landed in a disorganized heap of roaring and kicking. "Stop..." he breathed. "Davis. Davis! You can stop!"

Davis didn't hear at first until the Kaiser began to wriggle and scream for him to stop, and he looked over his shoulder to see the disoriented Monochromon pawing at the barrier. "Oh, man," he breathed, leaning forward slightly with a relieved sigh.

"Davis..." the Kaiser murmured, "My leg feels warm." The left pant leg was sliced up the back. Black material had done a good job of hiding the damage, but now there was blood dripping generously from where a Monochromon's horn had ripped into his leg. "I think it might be hurt," he said, not being to turn around and see while slung over Davis' shoulder.

Davis glanced down at the other boy's leg, suddenly hissing and biting his lip just from seeing the damage. "Jeez," he breathed, carefully sliding the Kaiser off of his shoulder only to put his arms under his back and the crook of his legs and hold him against his chest instead. "We've gotta get you back," he said, as he started to walk towards the citadel.

The Kaiser shook his head and started pushing against the other boy. "I'm fine. I can walk."

"No," Davis said, shaking his head. "You're gonna make it worse. Let me help."

"I'm not weak," the boy argued. "I can do it."

"I didn't say that, I said you're gonna make it worse," Davis said, shaking his head again. "Just let me help."

"It's just a scratch," the Kaiser insisted, though he was starting to sound defeated. "I'm fine..."

"I've pretended to not have broken bones, there's no use arguing with me," Davis said with a bit of a tired smirk. The Kaiser just sighed, submitting. He relaxed in Davis' arms and allowed himself to be carried home. Davis adjusted his arms, holding the Kaiser a bit tighter before he continued back. He was just glad the simulation of Odaiba had level streets, because if he had to walk across the desert-like terrain outside of the digital city it would have been a real challenge. Finally, they came to the doors of the citadel, and Davis used his foot to open one of them, and kept it open with his shoulder as he slipped inside.

"We should just go to my room," the Kaiser said. "I need to wash my leg."

"There's no like... medical supplies you want or anything?" Davis asked, even as he turned to climb the stairs towards the Kaiser's floor.

"I don't really know where they're kept," the Kaiser admitted. "I've never needed any medical aid before." Davis looked surprised, but nodded and kept climbing the stairs towards the Kaiser's room. Soon they'd come out of the stairwell onto the proper floor, and he carried the Kaiser to his room and through the room into the bathroom. The Kaiser had Davis set him on the edge near the faucet. He turned the water on, letting it get warm. The pants were removed and he put his leg under the water. A terrible sound hissed through his teeth and the deep gash flooded with water, but he just shook his head and said, "There might be something in the linen closet over there near the corner. Bandages and ointment at the very least. I know Wormmon has a habit of keeping such things nearby in case I ever need them. I've just never bothered to look."

"Alright," Davis said with a nod, heading over to the closet to check. He found bandages and some sort of bottle that he assumed was to help, since it was sitting right on top of the roll of bandages. He brought them both over to the sink, setting them down on the countertop.

Indigo eyes watched as red mingled with the clear water, turning pink as it rinsed down the drain. He kept it there until there was no more red, at which point he turned the faucet off and stood. The Kaiser didn't move at first, collecting himself, and then limped down the steps to come sit in his chair beside the counter. "I think it's good now." The gash was almost the length of his calf and nearly two inches across at the widest part. Only knows how deep it went, but the Kaiser acted like it was nothing. "You might as well wrap it so it won't get infected."

Davis nodded, taking the bottle and the bandages and crouching down in front of the Kaiser on the floor. He took the other boy's foot and set it on top of his knee, before extending the bottle upwards for the Kaiser to inspect. "Should I use this stuff?" he asked.

The Kaiser shrugged. "I suppose. Just try to be careful, Davis."

"Yeah," Davis said, unscrewing the cap and squeezing the lotion inside out onto his hands. He then rubbed them together and delicately touched under the Kaiser's leg, lightly running his hand over the gash to just gently cover it with the ointment.

"Ow!" Whatever it was, it stung at the open wound terribly. "I told you to be careful!" the Kaiser snarled and slapped Davis clean across the face.

Davis flinched when the strike landed across his face. He whined gently and rubbed at the spot, which now turned red with a hand mark. "I was careful!"

Unintentional tears built up in his eyes. "Well it hurts!"

"This stuff always hurts when you put it on an open wound!" Davis retorted. "Haven't you ever gone to the doctor?" The Kaiser opened his mouth to snap back, but his breath died on his lips. The boy slumped in the chair and wrapped his arms around himself. Davis looked confused, tilting his head to the side. "What?"

"I haven't, all right? I don't know what it's like."

"You haven't been to the doctor? Never?"

The Kaiser shook his head. "Anytime Ken went, I wasn't there for it, so... No. I've never been."

"Oh," Davis said, glancing to the side before looking back. "Well, it's not that great. They stick you with needles and hit your knee with a little hammer thing," he said, as he went back to rubbing ointment on the wound. "But, uh, the point was, this stuff always stings. Sorry, should've warned you."

"It's all right," he answered quietly. "I shouldn't have yelled at you. I'm... I'm... sorry..."

Davis was surprised to hear the apology from the Kaiser, but he knew that drawing attention to it would just make the other boy regret letting it slip. So, he just glanced up and offered a gentle smile. "No worries," he said, before he went back to tending to the wound.

The Kaiser was well behaved after that. He waited patiently and quietly as Davis dressed his leg. When it was all done, he gave a silent nod of thanks before attempting to stand on his own again. "I need to reinforce those barriers. I may need to give up some distance, but clearly they need more power feeding into them. This can't happen again. Can't."

"Do what you think is best," Davis said, standing up and offering his arm in case the other boy needed help balancing.

He nodded again and tried to take a step. Too bad his leg didn't feel like supporting him. "Ah!" the Kaiser cried as he fell, luckily falling into Davis as he did so. "I don't like being this way."

"You can't help it," Davis responded, helping the Kaiser back onto his feet with his other hand.

"Shouldn't I just be able to walk it into being better?" he asked looking up into the dark-skinned face.

"It's not a pulled muscle," Davis said, shaking his head. "It's a wound. You gotta wait for it to heal."

The Kaiser made a flabbergasted noise. "Well what am I supposed to do until then?!"

"Just... chill out, I guess," Davis said with a shrug. "Relax until it heals."

"I can't just 'chill out,' Davis! Didn't you see what happened today? They're out to get me. All of them! Digimon never sleep, and neither can I. Do you understand that? I have to keep my eyes on them because I know for a fact they're watching me."

"Then don't leave the citadel!" Davis said, as he helped the boy back into his bedroom. "They can't get you in here."

"But if I'm not working, what's to stop them from getting in here?" the Kaiser asked a bit frantically.

"I'll help you up to the control room," Davis sighed. "Or you can get a Digimon to build you crutches."

"Tch, these Digimon woulnd't know how to put lincoln logs together. Just... Just let me lean on you," the Kaiser insisted.

"Alright," Davis said with a nod. He then picked the Kaiser up and laid him down in his bed, and came to sit next to him on the other side, scratching at the back of his head. "This isn't really the end to the evening I was hoping for."

The Kaiser settled into the pillows, trying to get comfortable. "Oh?" He was already picking at the bandages on his leg. "And what kind of ending were you hoping for, exactly?"

"One were no one got maimed, preferably," Davis said, flicking his hand from side to side as he orchestrated his ideal evening end in his mind. "And, y'know, like... walking home and then a happy, peaceful end. I'd like a good day to end nice more than once in a long while."

"It can still end nicely," the Kaiser insisted. "The day isn't over yet."

Davis glanced over, speaking surprisedly, as he murmured, "Yeah?"

"Well of course. You think I'm going to let a bum leg stop me? Davis, please, I'm better than that," he scoffed. The Kaiser leaned over to open the drawer of the night stand and rummage around inside. "Close your eyes," he said. Davis grinned a bit, nodding his head a little as he closed his eyes. Noises were heard. A plastic cap clicking open. Something soft getting squeezed out. The Kaiser shifting against the sheet. He raised his finger, covered in strawberry fudge body topping, and slid it between Davis' lips. "Remind you of anything?" he purred.

Davis' tongue darted out quickly between dark lips, catching the flavor just on the end. He swallowed slightly, and one of his eyes cracked open. "It sorta tastes like... the ice cream from before..." he said quiety.

"Very good, Davis," he purred again. "Does it remind you of anything else? Does it... spark anything in you?"

Davis' eyes seemed to narrow, and he shook his head slightly, putting a hand on his head. "Very faintly... I... know I've tasted it before..."

The Kaiser just smiled coyly. "What if I did this?" He squeezed a bit more on his finger and spread the stuff from his chin to his ear along his jaw. He then gestured for Davis to lick it up. Davis licked his lips slightly and swallowed hard. His hands came to hold the Kaiser's face, one on his one cheek and the other under the jaw, before he leaned in and gently licked along the trail he was left. The Kaiser hummed softly and touched Davis' side. "Feel familiar yet?"

"I still can't put my finger on it..." Davis admitted when his tongue reached the end of the trail, breathing against the Kaiser's ear.

"Then you just need a little more reminder." The Kaiser spread a trail from his neck to down and across his collarbone. "Try this," he said smiling.

Davis moved his mouth to the Kaiser's neck, starting to suck on the skin along the trail he was given. His tongue and teethed teased the pale skin until he reached the other boy's collarbone and the end of the chocolate flavored topping, and he stopped, pulling back with a pensive look on his face as he licked his lips. "I... think I remember... something like this," he started, looking up at the Kaiser. "We've done this before."

"We have many times," the Kaiser replied. He smeared a surprise dot of fudge on the end of Davis' nose. "It was one of your favorite intimacy games. Probably because no one got hurt and you got to eat a special treat as well." The boy leaned forward and gently licked the tip of the tan nose. "The first time was on your twelfth birthday."

"W-we did this when I turned twelve?" Davis asked, suddenly looking uncomfortable. He pulled back his hands and sat upright, the sweet flavor left in his mouth seemingly turning sour.

The Kaiser shrugged. "It wasn't as bad as you're thinking. We never went below the belt. I had no interest in such a thing back then. Except for when you did my feet." Now he grinned. "That actually sort of tickled. Once again you were insistent, though, so I allowed you the opportunity." Despite the Kaiser's assurances of the innocence in it all, Davis still looked uncomfortable. He usually did when the Kaiser brought up things he couldn't remember, memories lost in the four year void of his mind. So he shifted back onto his side of the bed, clearly wanting to be finished with the conversation. The pale boy frowned sourly. "What the hell is your problem now?"

"That's just kind of weird for me, okay?" Davis responded, instantly not liking the Kaiser's tone of voice.

"Look, I'm trying to help you remember. The only way that can happen is if we talk to each other." He leaned over Davis to see the boy's face. "But everytime we start to talk about it, you turn into a pansy."

"I'm not a pansy!" Davis growled, life rekindled into his limbs as he tried to push the Kaiser away by his chest.

"Well you sure as hell are acting like one!" the Kaiser retorted with a push back. "Get over yourself, Davis!"

"You're not the one who's been all messed up, so don't tell me to get over myself!" Davis snapped back, his hands turning into fists in his lap.

The Kaiser growled in frustration. "You're not messed up, Davis! Oh my god! I didn't scramble your brain or turn you into dog! You're fine!" He groaned. "If you'd stop being such a pissy drama queen..."

"I'm the pissy drama queen?" Davis asked incredulously, before snorting and crossing his arms, turning his back to the other boy. "Rich."

"Don't you dare turn your back!" The screech of a warning was the last thing heard before Davis was tackled face first into the floor. "What am I supposed to do with you, Davis?! First you loathe me, then you act like you're starting to like me again, you even kissed me! Now you're turning into this sour, stubborn child again!" The Kaiser grabbed a fistful of cinnamon colored hair and yanked backwards. "You like fucking around with me like this, don't you?"

There was a flash of black across Davis' vision as he was slammed to the floor. He ground his teeth when his hair was pulled, and he pulled his arms inwards, put his hands flat on the floor, and pushed his body up with the Kaiser still perched on his back. "Get off me!" the boy demanded, trying to throw the Kaiser off by jerking his body to the side.

The Kaiser yelped when he was thrown back. Davis had never done that before, and it honestly surprised him. "I was only trying to make the evening special like you wanted!" he decided to say in his defense.

Davis scrambled to his feet, at first silent. He supposed that was true. He put a hand to his head, shaking it slightly. "I know, but... but you shouldn't bring up stuff like that. It's still really weird."

"You used to love doing all these things with me. So, the only reason I bring it up is because I think maybe you'll like the idea and want to try again," the Kaiser explained as calmly as he could. "You're almost sixteen now, Davis. Don't you think it's time to try being close with someone?"

"But I don't feel sixteen," Davis said, pulling at his own hair now with one hand. "I still feel eleven. This doesn't feel right."

The Kaiser stared at Davis for a long time before sighing and nodding. "All right, Davis. If that's how you feel, then... All right."

Davis seemed surprised, letting go of his hair. "You mean it?"

He nodded. "Yes. Just... it's fine. I understand. It's fine." The Kaiser crawled back over to the bed and gripped the sheets in both hands, hoisting himself back onto the mattress with one foot for support. He picked up the bottle and tossed it into the trashcan before sitting against the pillows again.

Davis edged over to the bed. "Okay... good," he said, sitting down on his side of the bed and scratching at the back of his head. He knew the evening was unsalvageable now. But maybe it was better that way.

"Good night, Davis" was all the more the Kaiser offered as he turned out the lights and laid down, back to the other boy, to go to sleep.

"Yeah... night," Davis murmured, also laying down with his back to the Kaiser. But he could tell that he wasn't going to get to sleep too soon; he had too much to think about.


	20. Back to the Real World

The Kaiser had noticed that Davis was missing more and more often these days. It seemed they'd been building a new relationship pretty well until their bombed date night last week. That's when Davis stopped coming around as often. Normally the Kaiser might not have minded seeing as how that would be time dedicated to working, but with his healing bum leg, he'd been left alone in a boring bed all day. Now he was up and around, albeit with a slight limp, and was on the hunt. The Kaiser would track Davis down and demand some attention. Now... if only he could find the boy. Davis had gotten up really early to train his Digimon, and they'd turned Wormmon's room into their own little arena where the green Digimon could watch. They'd been spending so much time training lately that both of the Digimon had finally reached their Rookie forms. Today, they were staging a scrimmage. Veemon had almost knocked Falcomon over with a great V-Headbutt attack, and then Falcomon had countered with his Kuchibashi Attack. "Nice shots, guys!" Davis whistled, a bit louder than he might have meant to. He just got fired up when he saw them coming along so well with their fighting skills.

His ears caught the whistle from down the hall in... Wormmon's room? Of course. He should have known. Who else would Davis spend all his time with than the Digimon? Heavy boots clunked against the floor in his brisk pace. There wasn't even a pause before the door was thrown open and the Kaiser was just standing there, total shock and disbelief stuck on his face. Dark indigo eyes looked at Davis, Veemon, Falcomon, Wormmon, Davis, Veemon, Davis, Falcomon, Davis... "The fuck!" he shrieked suddenly, turning red in the face.

Davis' eyes went wide and he spun around on his heel to see the Kaiser standing in the doorway. "Oh man..." Falcomon murmured, purple claws coming to ruffle the black feathers on the back of his head.

Davis glanced at the two Digimon, now frozen mid-fight, then back at the Kaiser. "It's not what it looks like?" he offered unconvincingly.

"The hell it's not!" he shrieked again. "This is what you've been doing?! I thought I could trust you, Davis! You can't rally the Digimon up outside, so you're going to build an army from the inside? Is that it?!" The Kaiser was shaking with rage. "So all this affection of yours has just been a farce? Some lie to get me into a comfort zone? Lead me off guard? I don't think so! This ends here!" He snapped his fingers and his trusty whip downloaded into his hand. "Your blue rat is going back into its egg and that horrible bird is going back into the freezer!" The Kaiser wasted no time cracking his whip and striking Falcomon across its body.

Falcomon cried out in pain, and Davis gasped, instantly getting between the Kaiser and the Digimon, putting his arms up defensively. "Stop it! I'm not building an army!" he snapped.

But Falcomon, ever eager to prove his worth, jumped in front of Davis instead. "Petit Cutter!" he shouted, rushing towards the Kaiser with his claws out.

"Stupid feathered rat," the Kaiser sneered as Falcomon charged. Another snap of the whip and he bound Falcomon by the wings, swinging him through the air to smash into the ground.

"V-Headbutt!"

"When will you idiotic creatures learn?" laughed the Kaiser. He whipped out the tazer and caught Veemon in the side with it, then smashing his boot on the Digimon's chest when it was down. "Calling out your attacks only alerts your enemy."

When Falcomon smashed into the ground, he suddenly was enveloped in a white glow and devolved back into Pinamon. The little In-Training Digimon slipped out of the whip's hold when he grew smaller and at once skittered over to Davis, hiding behind his leg as the boy grit his teeth angrily. Suddenly, he kicked over the panel in the floor where the Digivices and D-Terminals were hidden. He'd put them all into a bag so he could grab them all out of the hole beneath at once. He fished out his own Digivice, and then slung the bag over his shoulder. "Veemon!" he called, holding up the device as it began to glow with a blue light.

Veemon jumped up at the unspoken command. Channeling the power lost to him for four long years, he Digivolved into Raidramon with a mighty roar. "How did you find those?!" the Kaiser shouted, but his eyes were already on Wormmon who shrank back at the engraged glare. "I won't stand for your intolerance, Davis!" He cracked the whip again, but it only struck Raidramon's armor. The Digimon didn't even flinch.

"Hurry, Davis, get on!" Wormmon had jumped onto the larger Digimon's back, being the only one who could open the gate. He knew now there was no fixing his boy. Davis had to be set free. Davis quickly scooped up Pinamon in his arms and jumped onto Raidramon's back, and the armor Digimon took off as soon as he did. They were soon racing through the halls so fast that the citadel echoed with the loud clanking of metal against metal and everything seemed to blur together, and the Kaiser was left in the dust. The Kaiser spun on his heels to try and catch them, but they were already gone. Raidramon followed Davis' directions to the portal room. Once there, Wormmon began typing on the console. "You're going to come out in an alley," he explained, just as the Kaiser had. "No one will see you. Once you're through, the portal will close. Here, take this." He threw a small metal bracelet to Davis. "If for some reason you ever feel like returning, this bracelet has a code signature inside that will open the gate. It will only work for you, Davis. One signature per person. Understand?"

"Alright..." Davis said, putting the bracelet on as he watched the portal open. "Will the Digimon be able to get back through?" he asked, holding up Pinamon in his hand.

Wormmon nodded. "Yes, their natural code will allow them passage."

"Alright," Davis said, nodding and holding Pinamon tightly to his chest. He adjusted his grip on the bag of Digivices with his other hand, sighing slightly. He wished he had more time to try and free the other DigiEggs, but it looked like he didn't have a choice at this point. Having one last thought, he looked at Wormmon and bowed his head a bit. "Sorry to leave you like this, Wormmon. Stay safe, and thanks."

Wormmon just shook his head, smiling in his own way. "My place is with Ken. Always."

And with that, he looked forward into the portal. "Alright Raidramon, let's go."

Raidramon snorted slightly and pawed at the floor unsuredly at first, but with another re-encouraging word from Davis, he ran forward and jumped through the portal. The instant they all passed through, the two tiny Digimon and Davis landed in a pile of feathers, hair, and dirt. Chibimon was the first to blink his big red eyes and exclaim, "Davis! We did it!"

Davis had fallen flat on his face with the two In-Training Digimon on top of him, so he sputtered a bit a he lifted his head with a groan. But when Davis looked around the alley, a grin instantly came over his face. "It worked! We are back!" he exclaimed, suddenly rolling over onto his back and laughing as he held the two little Digimon up over him. "This is awesome!"

"Where are we?" Pinamon asked, wriggling with excitement even though he didn't quite understand where they'd gone.

"This is the real world, Pinamon," Davis explained. "It's... it's my home."

"What are you gonna do first, Davis?" Chibimon asked with wiggling ears.

Davis exhaled heavily. "There's so much to do... Let's see..." He looked around and sat himself up, putting the Digimon down on the ground. In one direction, the alley lead out onto the street. In the other, it lead towards the park. He considered going into the city until he looked down at Chibimon and Pinamon again, gazing up at him expectantly. He didn't think the bag with the Digivices in it was big enough for them, too. Putting his own Digivice into the bag, he said, "Let's go to the park," gesturing towards the trees as he spoke. "I've seen nothing but digital city and sand for like, almost a year."

Chibimon jumped excitedly. "Yeah yeah! The park! I wanna see green again!" Without even thinking, the little blue Digimon took off, running as fast as his tiny feet could carry him toward the park.

"Chibimon, wait up!" Davis called, as Pinamon quickly sped after the other Digimon as well. Davis then ran after them, dodging through the trees as he tried to keep up with the Digimon, though he was laughing as he chased them down. He eventually slowed down when they were amongst the trees and he'd finally caught up to Chibimon, grabbing him and tickling his sides. "Run away from me, huh?" he teased with a smirk.

Chibimon squealed with laughter and wiggled at the tickling. "Stop! Stop!" he cried through giggles. Pinamon chirped with laughter as he climbed up a nearby tree and sat on one of the low branches. Davis couldn't help a wide grin and laughs of his own until he finally relinquished his Digimon and sat down on the grass with him. Even just feeling the grass beneath him was enough to incite his mood to soar, and seeing the Digimon happy and laughing, free of thoughts of what had just occurred, just helped it even more. Once the tickling game was over, Chibimon took to lying back on Davis' clothed chest, arms spread out beside him and gazing up at the trees. It was the first real peaceful moment any of them had had in a long, long time. The sun was shining, the air smelled clean, everything looked to fresh and alive. This was how things were supposed to be. Chibimon had almost fallen asleep when his head perked up and he began sniffing at the air.

"What's the matter, Chibimon?" Davis asked as he watched the Digimon look around, sniffing at something. Pinamon fluttered down from his branch and landed on Davis' knee, looking curiously at the other Digimon as well.

"I smell something," he said. "Something from a long time ago... Something..." Chibimon sniffed again and again until he gasped with a big smile. "I smell Kari!"

"Kari?!" Davis shot into a sitting position, making Chibimon tumble off his chest and into the soft grass. Pinamon leapt down as well so Davis could scramble to his feet. "Are you sure, Chibimon? Which way?"

"This way!" Chibimon declared, pointing and running. He continued to sniff at the air. "I smell TK, too! And Yolei and Cody!"

"Lucky!" Davis gasped as he rushed after his Digimon, Pinamon dashing after them as well. What luck that they'd all be together! It was like everything was just falling neatly into place just for his arrival home. Chibimon ran and ran, seeming like nothing was going to stop, so it was strange when he came to an abrupt halt on the other side of some bushes. He found the other children, all teenagers now, really. They appeared to be having a picnic, sitting on a blanket and eating, but he tilted his head curiously when he noticed how quiet they were and the dark colors they all wore. Davis stopped when Chibimon stopped, crouching down in the bushes next to him. "Chibimon, what's wrong?" he asked quietly, only to look out into the clearing where all of the other children sat. He too quickly noticed that they were mostly dressed in black, formal clothing, and that they were silent as they ate.

"What's going on?" Pinamon asked, not really lowering his voice as he hid behind the bushes, too.

"I don't really know..." Davis answered in a whisper.


	21. Settling Back In

Cody was the first to look over in their direction. Had it been anyone else, they might have turned back to their friends, but his training in kendo had sharpened his senses over the years. "Who's there?" the boy asked with a slight frown.

Suddenly, Davis was hesitant to reveal himself. Something just seemed off. But Pinamon, with nothing to lose, jumped out of the bush into the clearing. "Hiya! I'm Pinamon!" he announced, waving his little taloned hand.

Kari gasped and Yolei dropped her sandwich mid-bite. TK just stared, gawking. Cody was the only one to place his food down clamly, stand up, and walk over to the little bird. "You're..." He knelt down in front of the creature. "You're a Digimon."

"Sure am," Pinamon said, his little feathered tails waving behind him. He bounced around Cody's feet, and then towards the other kids. "What're your names?"

"I-I-I'm TK," said the blond. "How... How did you get here?"

"I came with my friend Davis!" Pinamon chirped.

The group fell silent. They all looked at each other with strange expressions of curiosity, doubt, hope, and fear. "Davis... Davis who?" TK asked.

"Davis... Davis," Pinamon said, looking confused. "Oh, and Chibimon's here too! D'ya know them?"

Again all the children looked at each other. What in the world was going on here? Cody took the first step by peering into the bushes. Almost sure there was something there, he went around to the other side. The now thirteen-year-old boy suddenly felt like he was nine again when he saw their long lost companion hiding on the ground. He approached Davis slowly, hand reaching out hesitantly to touch the ghost. "...Davis?"

Davis rose out of the bushes, standing up and reaching out to touch Cody's hand before the other boy's could touch him. "Hey," was his greeting, for lack of anything else to say, along with his best smile. "Long time no see, huh?" Cody stared up at the teenager towering over him. Cody was older too, but he'd only managed to grow another three inches or so in the last few years. He still had the short bowl cut and big green eyes full of innocent wisdom. He looked a little funny in the black suit he was wearing, but Cody had always been that kind of kid. A hand slightly scarred from kendo practice touched Davis' arm, fingering the deeper scar tissue than his own. Cody stared hard at the body in front of him before looking up into brown eyes, eyebrows knitting together as tears started to build up, and then thew himself at Davis in a hug. Davis swallowed guiltily, but kept smiling, putting his hands on Cody's shoulders comfortingly. "It's good to see you too," he said quietly, exhaling, almost relieved when Cody hugged him, as if he'd been expecting the other boy to run away or something completely farfetched.

Chibimon stood at Davis' feet and watched all of this looking sort of sad. He knew how long all the children had looked for Davis, but he died long before their spirits were ever this broken. Meanwhile, TK had gotten up and came over, also starting at Davis as if he were a ghost. "Davis, what... What are you doing here?" he whispered, almost afraid anything louder would make the other teenager vanish.

Davis looked over at the blond, his expression now confused. "What d'ya mean?" he asked.

TK swallowed, licked his lips, and inhaled before answering, "You're dead."

"What?" Davis asked, before laughing strangely. "I'm not dead."

The blond boy frowned. He looked down at Cody who was still crying into Davis' stomach, and then looked back up at his long lost friend. "Then what did your parents bury?"

Davis' eyes widened. "Wh-what?"

"We're here to visit your grave, Davis," Kari said quietly, approaching the boy with a gentle frown on her lips. She brushed back her hair guiltily, the brown locks now long enough to be tucked behind her ear.

"No way..." Davis breathed.

"Where did you go?" Cody asked through his tears, finally looking up at him again. "We looked everywhere for you. Where did you go this whole time?"

Davis looked down at Cody, suddenly looking guilty again. "I was... being held at the Kaiser's citadel," he sighed.

TK touched Davis' shoulder, squeezing it firmly, yet in a friendly way. "Why didn't you ever contact us? We must have sent you hundreds of messages. Didn't you get any of them? You should have called for help."

"No, I didn't..." Davis murmured. He hesitantly lifted his hands from Cody's shoulders, and rolled up his sleeve, which had been just long enough to cover the spiral-shaped burn on the upper part of his arm. "I was under mind control the whole time... I don't even remember the past few years," he explained quietly.

Blue eyes widened. "Oh man... I can't believe he had you this whole time. We should have known. It's so obvious now." TK clenched his fists at his sides. "I'm so stupid... We could have saved you."

"How did you escape?" Cody asked.

"It's a long story," Davis said, shaking his head. "I don't feel like telling it." He then looked at all of the other children, and their sad faces, and couldn't help grinning again, reaching out to pat TK on the shoulder as well. "C'mon you guys, don't look so down. I'm back, isn't that a good thing?"

"To be honest, Davis, that's a really hard question to answer." TK looked right at Davis. "We're all really glad to have you back, but... I don't know how easy it's going to be for you, that's all."

"It'll be easier than living in that citadel," Davis said, staying positive.

TK rubbed the back of his head. "I suppose you could live with my brother for now," he suggested. "Kari, do you think Tai would be willing to put him up, too?"

"I'm sure Tai would be more than happy to," Kari said with a nod.

"Wait, wait," Davis said, waving his hands. "Thanks guys, but I don't need that. I need to go back to my parents."

TK tensed. Davis was so not making this easy. "Davis..."

"What?" Davis asked.

"Your parents moved away after they buried the empty grave for you," Yolei explained, her voice sounding a little hoarse from holding her tongue the whole time. "They couldn't bear to live in the same apartment anymore after they declared you legally dead. So they moved..."

"We don't know where they went," Kari added sadly. Davis, at first, had no reaction. He stared at the other kids like he expected them to start laughing and reveal it to be some sort of joke. But when they continued to just look back at him, almost apologetically, he bit his lip and looked down at his feet.

"We're sorry, Davis," Cody said sadly. "They kept hope as long as they could."

TK put a hand on Cody's head. "Our brothers will put you up for as long as you need. They'll understand what a happened. We... We can get you back on your feet, Davis. It will just take time."

Davis inhaled deeply, sadness evident on his face. But he forced himself not to cry or make a scene, and just smiled at TK thankfully. "Yeah... thanks. I don't know what I'd do without you guys."

TK offered a smile back, the first one so far. "You have a preference between Tai or my brother?"

"No offense to your brother, but I'd like to ask Tai first," Davis said, only then reaching into his bag and taking out his goggles that the Kaiser had hidden as well and sliding them back onto his head.

The blond just nodded. "None taken." He smiled when he saw the goggles on Davis' head. "You're starting to look more like yourself again," he said. TK then put an arm around the other teen's shoulders. "You probably don't want to hang around here anymore. Let's pack up and get you to Tai's place."

"One thing first," Davis said, opening his bag again and fishing through it until he produced a green and white Digivice and handed it over to TK. "I come bearing gifts."

TK stared in awe at the Digivice in his hand. "I thought I would never see this again..." He was certainly thankful for the gift, but he couldn't help asking with a sad smile, "I don't suppose you had room for Patamon in there?"

Davis looked down at the ground at that. "The DigiEggs were locked up. I only got to Chibimon out of dumb luck. I'm sorry."

TK just shook his head, smiling gently. "No worries. This is already way more than we could have hoped for. Now go on, give the other's theirs."

Davis nodded, distributing the other Digivices, and then the D-Terminals as well. "I have everyone else's Digivices, too," he said, as he fished out one of the older, blue Digivices. "But I don't know who's is who's."

"They'll know," TK assured him. "We got our Digivices mixed up plenty of times, but we always knew which one was our own." Digivice in hand, Cody hurried over to the picnic blanket to help Yolei pack everything up. TK noticed Pinamon hovering around the purple-haired girl, strangely attracted by her Digivice. "Where did you get that other Digimon anyway?"

"I found 'em," Davis said, as he picked up Chibimon and sat him gently inside the now partially empty bag. He then went over to Pinamon to pluck him out of the air. "The Kaiser... has all of the DigiEggs in a hatchery. But he didn't like this kind and kept their eggs frozen because he's afraid of crows, and Pinamon Digivolves into Crowmon at one point." He then placed Pinamon in the bag as well. "Chibimon and I broke open the freezer room thinking the high security meant that the Digivices were in there. And after all of the Puwamon got out, most of them were turned back into eggs and returned to the freezer except this one. So I kept him."

TK nodded at the story. "That's really cool of you, man. Nice to see you haven't changed." Once everything was packed up, TK slung his arm around Davis' neck and started to walk. "Maybe now we can figure something out. If you could get your Digimon back, even with dumb luck, I bet there's a way we can get ours back." They passed by the cemetary on the way out of the park, but no one made a move to stop or even look at it.

Davis glanced at it, however. But after a moment, he moved his gaze back to TK, grinning slightly. "Yeah, I'm sure there is a way. There has to be. And now that we're all together, I bet we can figure it out. I just ran out of ideas, they're in, like, this indestructible glass case."

"Well, that's what teamwork is for. We'll come up with a plan before you know it, charge in there, and bust our Digimon out. The Kaiser won't know what hit him. And we'll make him pay for all the years of hell he put you through." They all walked on, sometimes having to take different streets because of new buildings that has been put up or torn down. Cody pointed to the middle school he was attending and then at the high school across the street where the other's went. Yolei gestured toward the market district where the family had to move their store and apartment thanks to some rezoning policies a couple years ago. Soon they came to an apartment building that looked fairley new and was just a few blocks down from the local community college.

Davis was both awed and a little put off by it all. Everything was so different. Streets and buildings had changed, and he had no clue how he was ever going to adjust to high school. But like hell was he going to go back to elementary or even middle school looking the way he did. Maybe he could get home schooled by someone... His thoughts continued until they arrived at the apartment building that he didn't recognize. "Is this... where Tai lives?" he asked quietly.

TK nodded. "Yeah. They're actually dorms, so it's all included in his tuition package," TK explained. "He coaches a soccer team on the weekends and summer, so he makes enough money to pay for the place while his parents cover all the academic stuff."

Davis scratched at the back of his head at that. "Am I gonna be allowed to stay with him in a dorm?"

"Well, yeah. See... It's weird. The city built these new apartments thinking that people would want to live closer to the water, but due to it being so close to the college, students started moving in instead. The apartment people were complaining about losing money or something, so the college took the complex off their hands. So really... They're apartments that act like dorms. I guess."

"That is... weird," Davis said, dropping his hands to his sides. Yet another new thing he knew nothing about. "Now I just gotta hope they're okay with pets," he said, laughing at his own joke to brighten his mood again.

"C'mon, I'll take you upstairs," Kari offered. "And we'll all get together again and talk some more after you get settled in."

"Yeah, okay," Davis said, nodding his head.

Tai heard a knocking at his door. He didn't think it could be Yamato since he had a big essay exam tomorrow he was cramming for. To say he was surprised to see who was at the door would be an understatement. Tai stared at Davis and his sister a few long seconds before closing the door, waiting for a count of ten, and then opening the door again to be sure. "So I'm not seeing things," he said.

Davis laughed meekly, shrugging his shoulders. "Not a mirage," he answered.

"Damn..." the older brunet breathed. "You've been gone a long time, kid. C'mon, get in here," he said while gesturing with his hand. Brown eyes then looked to the girl. "Thanks for bringing him, Kari. I'll take good care of him."

Kari nodded, smiling gently as Davis shuffled inside. "I know you will. I'm going to head home with everyone else." She then bowed her head before heading back towards the stairs.

Tai nodded after her and closed the door once she was gone. He nudged Davis' discarded shoes up against the wall before going in to find the boy standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. "Relax," Tai said with a laugh. "Sit down. Put your feet up. You want some Ramune? I've got melon flavored. Or I have some cola. The American stuff. You hungry?" Taichi Yagami had grown into his full height. A bit of an unnatural five foot ten inches. His hair was shorter, but not too terribly much. The edges had just been trimmed down to look less like a bush. He had legs more muscled than his arms and a chest that just fit into his t-shirt.

"I guess some American soda sounds good, yeah," Davis said with a still nervous smile, sitting down on an overstuffed sofa that sat in the middle of the main room. He put his bag down in his lap. "And I'm not hungry, but... what about you guys?" he asked, as he pulled the drawstrings back, revealing Chibimon and Pinamon sitting on top of all of the old Digivices.

"Oooh, can I have a snack?" Pinamon chirped.

"Chocolate!" Chibimon chimed. It was one of his favorites. Tai laughed from in the kitchen. "Okay. I think I have something for everybody." He came out soon enough with a small tray. One soda for Davis, a sports drink for himself, two small bowls of milk for the Digimon, a small chocolate bar for Chibimon, and herb crackers for Pinamon. "There. I think that'll suit everyone's needs."

"Yay!" Pinamon exclaimed, grabbing the crackers and gnawing on them hungrily.

Davis laughed, taking his soda in one hand and ruffling the Digimon's feathers with the other. "Thanks, Tai," he said, before gulping down the soda nearly all in one go. It hadn't occurred to him how thirsty he was until the glass touched his lips.

Chibimon had snatched up the chocolate as well and was munching away on it happily. Tai just grinned and nodded while drinking from his own drink bottle. When he saw how quickly Davis finished off the soda, he went back to the kitchen to grab a couple of water bottles. "You look like you need these," Tai offered and sat down again.

"Thanks," Davis said, nodding and cracking open one of the bottles. "It's been a rough morning."

"Been a rough four years by the looks of you," Tai said.

Davis exhaled, nodding and taking a swig from the bottle. "You can say that again."

Tai just grinned. "What did you do? Try to be a wilderness expert and live amongst the Grizzlymon?"

Davis laughed slightly. "I wish. At least that way it'd be my own fault."

"The Digital World can be a bitch," Tai said and absently touched his neck. "What really happened to you, Davis? Last any of us heard, you were presumed kidnapped and dead, and we all watched a closed casket get lowered into the ground with your name on the headstone."

Davis swallowed dryly. He did not like the image that brought to his mind. "I really was kidnapped," he said. "By the Kaiser. He put a Dark Spiral on me and kept me in his citadel," he explained, again rolling up his sleeve to show the spiral-shaped burn on his arm as he spoke.

Tai frowned as he leaned forward to get a good look at the burn. He ghosted his fingers over the shape in case it was at all irritated. "Man, my scars are like love taps compared to this," he said.

"And I'm scarred all over, too," Davis groaned. "It's crazy. My skin's so thick now that I barely feel it when I get hurt."

"Well that's kinda cool," he replied with a shrug. "Davis, I hope you can forgive us," Tai said when he finally leaned back again.

"Forgive you guys?" Davis asked. "What for?"

Tai sighed. "Knowing where you were this whole time now, makes it feel like we should have been able to get you out no problem. It should have been obvious. Who else would want to take you, right? It was hard for us first generation kids to fight seeing as how unstable our Digivolution was. Your friends probably could have saved you, too, but stuff just kept happening. Then there was your funeral." Tai sighed again, now frustrated with himself. "I know they're all just excuses."

Davis shook his head. "No, I don't need to forgive you guys for anything," he said firmly. "I know you all did everything you could to try and find me and take down the Kaiser. But it just didn't work out. You shouldn't beat yourselves up over it... TK reacted the same way."

The older boy nodded. "Yeah, TK takes after Yamato that way. Anything that goes wrong, they take it personally. Both are convinced that when something needs fixed or saving, the weight is suddenly all on their shoulders. They have to protect the world from the dumb and painfully weak," he said with a mild laugh.

Davis smiled as he then moved Chibimon and Pinamon off his lap and onto their own places on the couch. He'd missed Taichi, probably the most. The older boy was his idol, everything he'd wanted to be and more. And his humor was really what he needed after all of the fighting and depressing news that the morning had brought. After a short laugh, he offered his bag of Digivices over to the other boy. "Here, one of these is yours."

Tai took the bag and began to rummage through its contents. Finally his face lit up and he pulled one of the Digivices out. "Here it is. Wow... Sight for sore eyes."

"Will you bring the other ones to everyone else?" Davis asked. "I don't know where they all live anymore..."

He nodded. "Sure. Mimi and Izzy are over in America right now, but everyone else is still local. I'll get these to them in no time."

"Thanks," Davis said, as he leaned back on the couch. "So... Kari said she thought you'd be okay with letting me stay here for a while... is it okay with you?"

"Of course!" Tai said more cheerfully now, slapping Davis on the back. "You can live here for as long as you want. We'll be like brothers! But," he began to warn, "if you come home and find the Van's A-Rockin sign on my bedroom door, do not come in. At all. Unless the apartment is on fire."

Davis blushed slightly, but soon laughed a bit and stood up, offering Tai his hand to shake on it. "It's settled, then. And I'll keep that last thing in mind."

Tai stood as well and shook hands. "I mean it now," he said with a grin. "That's when Yamato and I are having hot sweaty fuck time and if you so much as breath on the door, I will eat your face. Capeesh?"

"I get it, I get it," Davis said, putting his hand over the bottom half of his face. "I'll keep away when the sign's on the door."

"Good boy!" he said giving Davis another slap on the back with a hearty laugh. Clearly, even at eighteen, Tai hadn't changed that much on the inside.

"Where should we sleep?" Pinamon suddenly piped up from around his final cracker.

"Hm?" Tai looked around Davis to see the little feathered creature dropping crumbs on his couch. "Oh yeah! Well, there is a second bedroom. I mostly keep soccer stuff in there, but I have an air mattress, a sleeping bag, and an extra pillow for you, Davis. As for the Digimon, I dunno... Maybe we can make you a shoebox nest or something."

"They can sleep in my bed if they like," Davis said with a shrug. "Really, I'm used to sharing."

"Hooray!" Pinamon chirped, before demolishing off the last of his cracker. Chibimon squirmed in his seat with a slight frown. He liked Pinamon and all, but he was used to being the one to sleep with Davis in a bed. He wasn't very good at sharing his boy. The little Digimon kept his mouth shut, though, so as not to hurt Pinamon's feelings.

Davis caught sight of Chibimon out of the corner of his eye, and picked the blue Digimon up. "It's better than our sleeping arrangements before, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Chibimon admitted, tiny paws crossed cutely in front of his body as he turned side to side. "I was just kinda hopin' it would be you and me once we escaped, Davis. That's all."

"I'll take that shoebox nest if it really bothers you, Chibimon," Pinamon offered, fluttering over to hover behind Davis' shoulder. "I like nests, anyway!"

"If you're sure," Chibimon said, joy already sneaking into his voice.

"Mhm!" Pinamon hummed. He had so much to be thankful to Chibimon for, after all. He and Wormmon had pretty much raised him when Davis wasn't able to be around, and if it weren't for Chibimon, he wouldn't have been able to learn how to fight. So in the end, it all seemed fair.

Tai clapped his hands together. "All right. I'll get everything set up so you guys can go to sleep whenever you're ready." He got the blow up mattress and sleeping bag from the hall closet, and he used his hair dryer to blow the thing up. With that done, Tai started shredding failed quiz papers and old soccer jerseys for Pinamon's nest.

Pinamon was soon happily settled amongst the paper and jerseys, though he did insist his nest at least be placed up on a high shelf rather than the ground. He liked pretending he was in a tree. Davis put Chibimon down on the mattress, and even though it wasn't that late, he was overcome with the desire to get some sleep in a bed made for one. "Thanks again for putting me up, Taichi," he said over his shoulder as he unzipped the sleeping bag.

"Don't mention it. I'm happy to." Tai came up behind Davis then, kneeling down and wrapping his arms around the boy's shoulders in a hug from behind. "I'm here if you ever want to talk, okay? I'll even skip classes and soccer practice for you. You just say the word."

Davis smiled, putting a hand over one of those strong arms. "Thanks, Taichi. But hopefully any breakdowns will happen when you're off the clock," he joked with a chuckle.

"I'm serious," Taichi said, tightening his hold just slightly. "If you need me for anything at anytime, I'll be here. I promise. I know you're gonna need someone to take care of you. If I have to be that person, I'll do it in a heartbeat."

"Yeah, I know you're serious," Davis said, closing his eyes and nodding. He lost his breath when Tai tightened his hug, but managed, again, "I can't thank you enough."

"You can start by letting it all go," he answered. Chibimon looked up at his boy and nodded, knowing Tai was right. It was time for Davis to let it all out. To set free what he'd been clamping up inside.

Davis bit his lip slightly, looking from Chibimon to Pinamon, and then tilting his head back to look upwards at Tai, leaning his head back against him. "I dunno if I'm ready," he said quietly.

Tai nodded. "I won't argue with you if that's how you feel, but trust me when I say... The longer you keep it in, the worse it's going to feel. Sometimes you think you're being brave when you keep hurt feelings inside, but you're just beating yourself up for no reason. It's like a poison, Davis. Once you let it out... You don't feel so sick anymore. I know."

"I believe you. It's just that I just got back and everything... I want a little while to adjust before I start talking out where I just got away from."

"I don't mean talking, Davis. I mean letting yourself release. You don't have to say a word. You just have to let yourself heal. That's it."

Davis bit his lip, but murmured, "Still."

Tai just nodded again. "Okay. You do what feels right. Just know that I love you, Davis. We all love you and we're going to be here for you." With that, Tai pulled away from the younger boy and stood to leave so Davis could sleep.

Davis opened his mouth, considering calling Tai back, but decided against it. The call died on his lips and he closed his mouth, turning to strip off his shirt, jeans, and socks and climb into the sleeping bag silently. Chibimon looked back and forth between Davis and the door Tai had just walked through before burrowing into the sleeping bag. "Davis?" he offered gently and pawed the boy's cheek.

"Hm?" Davis hummed, seemingly already lost in his thoughts as he lay his head back on the pillow.

"Is it okay if I cry for you?"

"Don't do that, Chibimon," Davis said with a frown. "Cry for yourself, but not for me. I'll get around to letting my feelings out eventually."

"But..." Chibimon sniffled. Already the tears were forming. "Davis won't cry for himself when he's supposed to. Davis was hurt really badly for a really long time. Davis wasn't allowed to grow up." His voice came in sad squeaks as the tears fell. "Davis doesn't recognize his home anymore. Davis' friends thought he was dead. And now... Davis doesn't have a mom and dad to go back to." Chibimon plopped back onto his bottom and cried into his tiny paws. "The worst thing that happened to me was being in an egg, but I wasn't being tortured. Davis was! I didn't protect Davis and now he's broken!"

"Oh, Chibimon..." Davis sighed, gently scratching behind his Digimon's ear before pulling him closer, hugging him to his chest. "Chibimon, don't cry about that. It's not your fault."

"Then why do I feel so bad?" Chibimon squeaked into the boy's chest.

"No one feels good about this, Chibimon," Davis said. "But instead of feeling bad about it, we need to get back on our feet and do our best to fix it. If we can work with everyone and save the Digital World, it'll all be worth it in the end."

Chibimon nuzzled into Davis' warm skin. "I just wish Davis didn't have to suffer for so long."

"Thanks, Chibimon," Davis said, gently patting the blue Digimon's back. "But don't lose sleep over it. We need to be in top condition to fight for the Digital World, right?"

He nodded and bravely as he could. "Right."


	22. Check Up

Davis had been back for almost a week now. All the Chosen Children had been informed of his return and they were all overjoyed to know he was alive and well. Mimi sent her regards from New York while Izzy promised to set up a new identity for Davis even though he was away in Colorado. Sora had come over as soon as she heard to make Davis dinner. Yamato saw him the most often, as he came over to Taichi's apartment at least three times a week for this or that. It had been planned for Davis to start high school the coming Monday, and Joe was coming in all the way from his medical school in Kyoto to check the boy out. That's why Taichi was now knocking on the bedroom door. "Davis? Davis, you awake?"

Tai was answered with loud snoring that sent a very clear answer to the boy's question. Soon, the door cracked open slightly, and Pinamon jumped down from the doorknob to sit at Tai's feet. "He stayed up really late last night thinking about stuff," the little feathered Digimon explained.

Tai grinned at the little brown bird. "He'll have plenty of time for thinking when he goes back to school. Right now Joe needs to make sure everything is ticking right." He entered the room, waving to Joe to wait a minute, and knelt down next to the boy's bed. "Davis, you need to wake up." Tai shook the kid's shoulder gently. "It's already noon on Saturday. You've slept long enough."

Davis was jerked out of his sleep, groaning as his eyelids tightened together with an obvious desire to not get up. "Five more minutes," he whined in typical childish fashion. Pinamon had hopped up by his feet now, shaking Chibimon too, who was curled up there, chirping like any bird might in the morning in such a way that it woke most everyone.

"You heard him," Chibimon squeaked and waved his paw. "Five more minutes."

Tai just laughed. "Trust me, I know how you feel, but you need to get up. Joe came all the way from Kyoto to see you. He deserves a little respect, and that means getting up."

Davis cracked an eye open, before groaning and rolling onto his stomach before he forced himself up, getting out of bed and rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Alright, alright," he sighed, as Pinamon took to trying to balance on Chibimon's side until the other Digimon got up as well.

"Nyyuuuu..." Chibimon whined as he rolled back and forth.

Tai kept grinning and pat Davis on the head. "Be a good sport and I'll take you out for cheeseburgers later, okay?" Since Davis was already without a shirt and pants, seeing as how they never got around to buying him any, Tai just yanked the boy's socks off to leave Davis in just his boxers. "All right, Joe, he's all yours."

The much taller man came into the room then. His long hair from adolescence was gone, cut even shorter than when he was a child. A smaller pair of round frames perched upon his nose. Much like his youth, though, a sweatervest, khakis, and brown loafers made up his attire. "Hi, Davis. Long time no see," he greeted with his own smile.

Davis removed his fists from his eyes to look at the other boy- or man, he supposed, and he gaped a little as he looked him up and down. "Wow, you changed," he commented. Having never known Joe when he was younger, the change seemed way more drastic to him than it did to anyone else.

Joe laughed. "I suppose I have, yet some people might say I haven't. The same could be said for you, though. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I guess so," Davis responded, scratching at the back of his head. "So... what are you gonna do again?"

"Did you ever go to the doctor's for a check up, Davis?" Joe asked as he knelt down on the floor and began looking through his bag.

"Yeah," Davis said, nodding as he watched Joe shuffle through his bag. "Is that it? Why?"

"Well that and maybe a few other things. Depends on how this goes. I'd heard you had been roughed up pretty badly while you were missing, and I can see it wasn't an overstatement. We just want to make sure you're really okay. Plus you need a clean physical before you can go back to school. Will you be okay with that? I'm not going to stick you with anything if it makes you feel better."

"Yeah, that's fine," Davis said, nodding. He was still worried about school in the back of his mind. He'd never gotten through middle school, he didn't think he was ready for high school. But he pushed those thoughts aside, that wasn't what was going on right now.

"Okay, first thing's first. Do you have any headaches, trouble breathing, trouble sleeping, pain in your joints, problems hearing, seeing, or using the bathroom?" Joe asked, now officially in doctor mode. Davis was his first real patient out of med school, but Joe was top in his class and had handled much worse cases than a teen's physical.

Davis looked awkward as he shuffled his feet. "No?" he answered, only to backtrack and say, "Well, I can't get to sleep sometimes if that counts because I think too much about stuff. And sometimes my chest hurts and it's sorta hard to breathe, but that's it," he said, gesturing to his chest with one hand.

Joe laughed. "Even the best of us have those kinds of nights," he said. "But your chest is a concern." Joe pulled a stethescope from his bag, put in the ear pieces, and placed the diaphragm against Davis' chest. "Take three deep breathes for me and then two big coughs." Davis did as he was told, and Joe would hear the irregular heartbeat hammering against the metal circle he'd placed on the boy's scarred skin. Joe frowned. "Davis, does the pain get worse when you drink something caffeninated or when you're under any kind of emotional stress?" he asked as he moved the diaphragm across the boy's chest.

"The second one, yeah," Davis admitted, biting his lip a little. "Why? What does that mean?"

"Well, it could be a number of things," Joe said. "Let's knock some things off the list. You aren't inactive, so it's not from a lack of exercise. You show no signs of cocaine usage. I doubt you indulge in too much caffeine. So... Does asthma run in your family?"

"No," Davis said, shaking his head. "Not as far as I know..."

"Okay. Now I need you to think carefully, Davis. Have you ever coughed enough to bring up a pink, foamy mucus? I know it sounds gross, but I need you to tell me."

Davis scrunched his face up disgustedly, but eventually shook his head. "I can't remember... see," he gestured to the spiral-shaped burn on his arm, something he was getting really sick of doing. "I can't remember the past four years at all. So if I have, I don't know."

Joe nodded. "Well, if you haven't had that recently, then it's not a problem. So just in the time you can remember, do you experience an extreme shortness of breath, dizziness, or fainting after you've been active? Like running, jumping, or even climbing stairs?"

"No, not really," Davis said with a shake of his head. "Just... just when I get upset. I haven't fainted, though," he added quickly.

Joe nodded again. "Just a few last questions. When you get upset, do you experience sweating, nausea, or shaking?"

"Yeah, a bit," Davis said, now holding one arm with his opposite hand.

Joe nodded one last time with a smile. "Well, Davis, I think you'll be relieved to know that all you're experiencing are panic attacks."

Davis exhaled gently, nodding. "Yeah, I am. I'm too young for heart problems."

"A panic attack is a sudden, intense fear or anxiety that can make you short of breath, dizzy, and your heart pound. You might also feel out of control. They occur more often in women than men, but considering what you've been through, this makes sense. Now when I listened to your heart there was a distince irregular rhythm. This tells me you've experienced a number of panic attacks over an extended period of time."

"That makes sense," Davis said with a nod. He then frowned a bit. "Can I stop them?"

"With therapy and medication, most panic disorders can be easily treated." Joe smiled. "Knowing you, I'm sure talking isn't something you'll want to do, but luckily I'm certified enough to prescribe medication. I can get you Prozac. It's very basic and can help you control any feelings of anxiety that come up."

Davis groaned quietly, playing with his bangs. He didn't really like the idea of going on medication at all. "Is that the only option?" he asked.

The man smiled sympathetically and nodded. "Therapy and medication are the only known treatments for panic attacks, Davis."

"You're the doctor, I guess," Davis murmured. "But I mean, I'm not there anymore, so... maybe it'll go away?"

"Well, that is a possibility, but you've got new challenges ahead of you. Panic attacks are often mental and emotional, Davis. Unless you can let go off all the feelings you have for what happened to you, these aren't going to stop. You'll start going to school, dealing with peer pressure, teachers, tests, studying, learning a new pattern of living. It's like a stack of blocks. If you stack too many too high, they all come toppling over."

Davis let out another heavy exhale, running his hands back through his hair. "Alright, I guess. If it'll help, I'll do it." He still really didn't want to have to be that kid who was on medication. That just wasn't him. But Davis felt so awkward in his own skin anyway, so anything that Joe said would help him he'd have to believe and go along with. If only to help him get back to being himself again.

Joe knew that expression. That sigh. "Davis," he began with a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Can I tell you a secret?"

Davis raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "Yeah?"

"I have to take medication to help me sleep. Taichi? He takes medication to help him pay attention in classes. TK started going to a counselor a year ago to talk about his parents' divorce. Cody took anti-depressants to deal with his father's death. Even Mimi has to take something once a week for her hands. You aren't alone. Almost everybody has something they need help with these days. Not everyone needs meds, but everyone needs help. Okay?"

Davis hadn't thought of it that way. Eventually, the pensive look fell away from his face and he managed a smile. "Okay." Suddenly, his normal demeanor sprang back full force as he smirked up at Joe. "Mimi takes something for her hands, huh? What's she doing with her hands?" he asked with an insinuative quirk of the brow.

"Haha, very funny, Davis." Joe just rolled his eyes with a light chuckle. "She uses her hands a lot in her cooking. She's developed some carpel tunnel in her wrists."

"Uh-huh," Davis hummed, feeling better with himself for lightening the mood. "So, was there anything else you needed to check?"

"Just the little things." Joe reached out and snapped his finger right next to Davis' ear.

Davis jumped a little, looking up at Joe. "Uh, what was that for?"

The man smirked. "Making sure your reactions are up to par." Joe pulled his transilluminator from his bag. "Follow the light without turning your head, all right? Just your eyes." He then proceeded to move the light left, right, up, and down.

Again, Davis was able to do what he was asked, following the light with his eyes. "Are you gonna have to check my reflexes, too?" he asked, squinting his eyes a little as the light was taken out of his eyes.

"Now you're getting it," Joe laughed. He took the little rubber tipped hammer from his bag next and tapped each of Davis' knees and elbows. He smiled amusedly when the limbs jumped or bent on reflex. That was one of his favorite parts. "Now touch your thumbs to each of your fingers while counting back from ten."

Davis looked a little confused by that test, but did as he was told. When he was done, he asked, "What in the hell does that test?"

The man laughed again. He was really enjoying Davis. "It tests your coordination; make sure all the wires in your brain are hooked up. It's kind of like when police ask drunk people to walk a straight line and say their ABC's. You check out tip top, Davis. All your scars concern me, though. I'd like to take a closer look, but I know you won't be comfortable with that. Just answer me this. Have you ever noticed any of the scars feeling warm, painful, or show signs of infection?"

"I don't think so," Davis said, now looking at one of his scarred up arms. "But I don't feel much of anything anymore, to be honest. I only feel stuff in some places where I don't have scars, like my face and my shoulders and one of my thighs. But..." He glanced at his other arm now. "The ones I can see don't look infected to me." He paused for a moment, then added, "But there are some I can't see. You can check those out if you want."

Joe shook his head. "If they were infected, you'd know. Like I said, if any of them ever feel warm, cause discomfort, or start to ooze, you need to let a doctor know. And as for your skin toughening over, some of that, but not all, can soften up with time. As you shed skin cells and make new ones, you'll start to get some feeling back. All in all, I give you a clean bill of health, Davis. I'll write up a prescription for the Prozac and you'll be all set."

"Alright," Davis said with a nod. "That's good to hear, at least." He touched the scar covered arm gingerly and managed something of a grin. "It'll be nice when I get feeling back."

"It will take a few months, but as long as you don't get hurt anymore, you'll be fine." Joe took a prescription pad from his bag and filled it out, ripped it off, and then handed it over to Davis. "You can get that at the pharmacy in the grocery store around the corner. This is an order for thirty days. I'm going to write you another three, but you can't fill them all at once."

"Okay..." Davis said, looking at the paper and placing it on the small folding table that Tai had given him to use as a nightstand along with the next three. Then, he glanced over at Joe and offered him a smile. "Thanks, Joe."

"Don't mention it," Joe replied and pat Davis on the shoulder. "Good luck at school. I'm sure you'll fall into place soon."

"I hope so," Davis answered. He then went to the doorway of his room and called into the apartment, "Alright, I did it! You owe me cheeseburgers, Taichi!"

"Cheeseburgers!" Chibimon exclaimed, only now leaping up out of the bed excitedly. Joe and Tai exchanged pleasantries before the med student left. Tai had invited Joe to come along, but his friend insisted he needed to get back to Kyoto.

Luckily for Davis, Tai still held on to some clothes he wore in high school, so the boy could have something to wear when they went out. "Ready to go?" he asked in grabbing his wallet.

Davis looked absolutely ecstatic as he tugged on the blue jersey with the yellow triangle on the front that he knew Taichi wore oh so often during high school. He grabbed his bag, putting Pinamon and Chibimon safely inside before slinging it over his shoulder and rushing to the door. "Born ready!" he exclaimed.

"Awesome." They went to a burger joint that was located close to campus, feeding the inexpensive eating habits of the college students. Taichi let Davis order whatever he wanted, remembering his own phase of eating mountains of food while going through his growth spurt. Even now he'd ordered two burgers, a large fry, and a milkshake. "So I've been talking to Izzy and he can get you a schedule that puts you in all of Kari's classes."

"Sweet," Davis said as he took his food and turned around to look for a table. His eyes strayed to an open booth in the corner of the restaurant, but he shook his head and lead the way to a table in the dead center of the place. "So... I'm gonna go straight into high school, then?" Davis asked as he started to eat his fries just as soon as they sat down.

Taichi nodded. "We're going to see how well you fair. A lot of material in high school is just new rather than the next stage of what you learned in elementary and middle school." The older teen laughed. "Besides, who really remembers what they learned two or three years ago? You can read and write, so you'll be fine. Literature, history, and gym should be a breeze. Kari is in biology, so you don't have to worry about chemical equations or anything like that. She's in algebra two, but both Izzy and I are more than willing to help you study. Izzy is available via webcam almost every evening. Oh, Kari also has photography as an elective, but we can put you in basketball with TK if you'd prefer that."

Davis frowned a bit. "Is there soccer?" he asked hopefully, as he grabbed his drink and started to chug it down.

"Sure!" he replied. "We just thought you'd like being with your friends, but we can definitely put you in soccer if you want."

"I miss soccer," he stated around his straw.

Taichi nodded. "I can understand that completely." He finished off his first burger and then started on his second. "What do you say you and me go kick a ball around after this?" he asked with a grin.

"Yes!" Davis exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. "I'm so up for that!" And so he proceeded to wolf down his cheeseburger as Pinamon began to sneak fries off of his tray to share between him and Chibimon inside the bag.

Taichi laughed. "Slow down! Slow down! If you keep eating like that you'll get a stomach ache or you'll get cramps on the field. We have all afternoon."

"Hey, I didn't have breakfast, I'm hungry," Davis protested with a full mouth. "Besides," he added as he swallowed, "It's been a while since I got to have a real cheeseburger instead of like, a digital one."

That earned Davis a funny look. "Digital cheeseburger?"

"Mhm," Davis said with a nod. "And digital ice cream and digital fries and digital sodas... I mean, they taste fine, but I prefer real food."

"Davis, what are you talking about? The Digital World doesn't have cheeseburgers. Not when I was there at least."

"Oh, right..." Davis murmured, having totally forgotten that no one else had been to the Digital World he'd seen. "The Kaiser..." he started, the name feeling sour on his tongue. "He made a digital Odaiba outside of his citadel... to try and make me feel more comfortable and stop me from trying to leave."

"Wow..." Tai looked genuinely surprised as he leaned back and sucked on the straw of his milkshake. "That was really nice of him. I wouldn't peg him as that kind of guy. Y'know, to do something like that for someone else."

"He's not," Davis said, shaking his head. "Just for me. He..." The boy glanced to the side, and then looked back at Tai. "Likes having me around. A lot."

The older boy nodded. "I see. Well... he is human, though hard to believe. Humans have a natural need for companionship. When you spend enough time with someone, that need evolves from one level to another."

"You can say that again," Davis snorted, before letting out a sigh. "The whole thing was really confusing."

"How so? Talk to me, Davis."

Davis swallowed, leaning forward on the table. "The Kaiser likes me... romantically," Davis clarified.

Tai laughed. "I understand that, Davis. You don't replicate a city for someone you only like as a friend. You don't release them slavehood, either. It's obvious the Kaiser was in love with you. The question is, how did that make you feel? Everything he did for you must have meant something."

Davis exhaled heavily when Tai laughed. It didn't seem like a laughing matter to him. "It makes me feel weird," was the only explanation Davis could give, playing with one fry that he kept spinning between his fingers. "Like, I can get along with him better than I expected, but when he tries to get me to get closer... I just can't do it," he said, shaking his head. "I can't look over everything he's done. And I shouldn't be able to, right?"

"Maybe. Forgiveness is very important, Davis. Being the bigger person means telling someone you forgive what they've done, even if they refuse to change. Holding grudges just puts a heavy weight on your shoulders and carrying it around never gets any easier." Taichi leaned forward on the table, looking carefully at the boy across from him. "But Davis, what if you came to learn that the child the Kaiser is, isn't the evil one?"

"That's another thing," Davis murmured. "Wormmon told me a story... about how the Kaiser came to be who he is. Apparently he was affected by something called the Dark Spore that made him how he is... and that he just needs help." Davis then turned his head towards the bag sitting on the chair next to him. "But Chibimon brought up a good point, that trying to get close to him in order to help him may encourage him into thinking that I approve of what he's done." Davis then put his head in his hand, groaning as he added, "But if I make it clear that I don't approve, he'd try and take it out on the Digimon and I'd put them in serious danger."

"You have to reach the child inside, Davis. Whatever the Kaiser has done isn't what's important. Years ago, Yamato was possessed while we were in the Digital World. It made him turn against me and I couldn't understand what had come over him. I did what I could to get through to him. Granted that turned out to be hitting him, but I had to get back to Yamato." He shook his cup to get the last of the milkshake in the straw. "If you were still with the Kaiser, you would need to find out who he used to be and try getting back to that person. By getting back to that child, the Kaiser would let off his control issues."

Davis listened to them, hanging on to Taichi's every word. It was no wonder he looked up to the guy. In Davis' eyes, he could solve any problem. "Alright," Davis said, a moment of silence passing after the other boy was done speaking. "I... understand what you're saying," he said, as he went back to his meal. "It's still weird to deal with, though."

Taichi nodded. "I understand that." He shrugged. "But it doesn't really matter anymore, does it? You're here now and he's back in the Digital World."

"Yeah, I guess not," Davis said with a nod, polishing off his burger and relinquishing the last of his fries to Pinamon's grabby hand that had emerged out of the bag.

"There ya go." Tai crumpled up the wrappers and napkins, stuffed them in the empty fry box, and slurped up the last of his milkshake. "Are you ready to go play some soccer?"

Davis' smiled returned now. "Hell yeah," he said, grabbing the bag with the Digimon inside and carefully slinging it over his shoulder. The Digimon didn't seem to mind the fact that Davis didn't give the smoothest ride; they had a whole box of fries to keep them happy.

"They relocated the soccer field farther away from the river because too many balls were getting kicked into the water. It's closer to the middle school now, especially since the team went to the nationals two years ago. The stadium is more bowl shaped now to prevent balls from escaping," he said with a laugh.

Davis frowned. "Aw, man. I liked it being by the water. It really wasn't that hard to just dive in after the ball, anyway."

Tai laughed again. "I would agree with you on that one, but the general consensus was to move the stadium." They got there soon enough despite its relocation. Tai grabbed a few soccer balls from the storage room and kicked them onto the field. "Let's see what you've got." Davis technically hadn't played in years, but it felt like his last match was only yesterday. He took back to the field like he'd never left the real world. As soon as the ball hit the field, he'd kicked it into his possession and was running towards Tai's goal, a huge grin fixed on his face. He'd missed this. So much. Even when Tai stole the ball, Davis felt like he was running on air as he suddenly changed direction and ran after him; a lot faster than he ever remembered being able to run. Tai couldn't believe how fast Davis came up on him. He'd never seen anyone run that fast before. Even Ken Ichijouji never gave that kind of performance. The first time Davis took the ball, all Tai could do was stumble to a stop and watch the boy fly across the field. "Holy shit..." he breathed.

When Davis made it to the other side of the field, he kicked the ball into the goal, watching it shoot straight in. He grinned, turning around and putting his hands up. "Still got it!"

"Wow, he's fast!" Pinamon chirped from the bleachers where he and Chibimon had taken a seat to watch.

"Davis is the best of the best!" Chibimon cheered.

Tai jogged up to Davis with his mouth still slightly agape. "Davis, that was amazing! You've got the legs of a gazelle, dude! When did that happen?"

"I'unno," Davis said, shrugging his shoulders. "Lots of stuff changed... I guess I'm faster now, too." He then started to scratch at his chin thoughtfully. "That'd explain why I could outrun all of those Monochromon, though..."

Brown eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "You outran a pack of Monochromon?! Davis! Davis...!" Tai ran back to the store room and came back with a stop watch. "Stand at that line and when I say go, run to the other end of the field and back."

"Um, alright," Davis said, not seeming to understand what the big deal was. He stood at the line, getting down into a runner's lunge, and when Tai signaled for him to start, he took off across the field, practically sliding across the grass when he took his turn and ran back. He touched the line and skidded to a stop before turning around and putting his hands on his knees with a long exhale.

Taichi just stared at the stop watch for a few long seconds. First he shook it and then held his ear to it. "Davis... Davis, you did that in twelve seconds..."

"R-really?" Davis asked, shaking his head and walking over to look at the stop watch as well.

"Yes. This... This is incredible. Ten seconds is great for 120 yards, but you ran 120 yards in six seconds... and back!"

Davis just stared, but then let out a long breath and a confused look came over his face. "I have no clue how that's even possible..." Suddenly, brown eyes went wide and touched the burn mark on his arm. "Do you think... do you think it might've been the spiral?"

Taichi nodded slightly. "Maybe. I mean... people who get into accidents sometimes have to get prosthetic limbs and their endurance his enhanced by it. There's a good possibility that the spiral acted like a steriod or prosthetic enhancement tool. How high can you jump?"

Davis scratched at the back of his head and shrugged again. Soon he was back at the line, and he got down into a lunge position before running into a flying leap, one which earned a sound of awe from Pinamon. "I didn't know he flew!" the Digimon exclaimed.

Davis' feet hit the ground with a loud thud and his knees bent, before he quickly stood up again and turned around to face Tai. "How was that?" Again, Taichi was left staring stupidly at Davis. Chibimon was doing much the same. Flabergasted. This time Davis drank up the amazement on their faces. "Maybe this wasn't so bad after all!" he laughed. Suddenly, he wasn't so nervous about school. Not with the promise this brought of how awesome he'd be on the soccer team.

"You jumped high enough to go clear over my head!" Taichi exclaimed. "Come on!" he said and grabbed Davis' wrist and dragged him towards a set of down stairs, only just remembering to grab the Digimon. He took Davis down underneath the stadium where the locker rooms and weight training rooms were located. Tai sat the boy at the lat pulldown, set the weight to fifty pounds, and signaled for Davis to begin.

Davis grabbed the bar and began to pull. It seemed like he wasn't even feeling it. "More weight," he said, letting down the bar after a moment. When Tai put on more weight, it seemed to be more of a challenge, but Davis still pulled on the bar with little problem.

"Is that a lot?" Pinamon asked from where he and Chibimon were perched on the treadmills.

Taichi nodded dumbly. "He's lifting eighty pounds and he hasn't even broken a sweat. Davis, this is unreal. People in your physical condition could go to the Olympics with steady enough training! I'd have to work my butt off to get anywhere near the level you're at right now!"

"Sweet," Davis hissed between his teeth as he continued. After a while, he let down the weights and spun on the bench to face Tai. "This is awesome!"

"You bet your freakishly toned butt it is!" Tai exclaimed. "The coach is going to love you! With you on the team, the high school might win its third national championship in a row! That would be a record!"

Davis grinned widely, before looking back at the machine. "Let me try it with a little more, Taichi."

The older teen nodded. "Okay, but not too much. We're only going up to ninety pounds. I'm not gonna let you tear something," he said and reset the weights.

Davis nodded, and soon was pulling on the bar again. Finally, he broke a sweat after several sets of reps, and after a while carefully let the bar up. He wiped his forehead with the back of his arm, but was left grinning wildly. "Too awesome," he breathed heavily, grinning. "Who would have thought there'd be a benefit in all this?"

"I'm wondering if the Kaiser even knows about these side effects," Tai wondered aloud. "Think about it. If you got this much stronger and more agile, imagine the shape all the Digimon are in now. Everything could easily be Digivolving at this rate."

"I don't think he does," Davis said, shaking his head. "I mean, he doesn't care about Digivolving them. He just wants to keep them contained so they don't attack him. And besides, most of them aren't wearing spirals, just rings."

"Who said the rings don't have the same effect?" Tai responded. "Rings might be first generation control compared to the spirals, but they could easily have the same enhancing powers." Taichi frowned now, thoughts turning to more serious matters. "He could be in real trouble. If those Digimon feel trapped and angry enough, their animalistic instincts can take over in a second and the Kaiser will have a real disaster on his hands."

Davis groaned, resting his chin in his hand. "If only I could have busted out the DigiEggs. Then we could already be taking the rings and spirals off those Digimon."

Tai grinned knowing how much Davis wished he could help, but also seeing the bigger picture. "Could we really, Davis?" he asked. "How would we get there? All the gates have been destroyed. You said so yourself the one you took was one way."

"There has to be a way," Davis insisted with a whine. "You were the one who managed to make yourself digital, right? Straight through a computer screen when you fought Diaboromon!" Davis then scrambled to his feet, pumping his fists in front of him. "Crazier things have happened than us opening our own gate!"

"Davis..." For the first time since their reunion, Taichi looked sad. "I can't connect with Agumon anymore. I can't feel him."

"Impossible!" Davis retorted. "There has to be a way. I know it's a long shot, but we can't just leave everything like this."

"Davis! Just drop it, okay?!" That was also the first time Taichi ever snapped at the younger boy.

Davis jumped, shrinking visibly when Tai shouted. He stared at the other boy for a moment before looking down at his feet. "Okay... sorry," he mumbled.

Taichi sighed with a hand on his head. "No, I'm sorry... Davis, you need to understand. It's taken all of us a really long time to accept the separation from our Digimon. It nearly killed us to see them turned into eggs and then taken away. Yamato... I thought I was going to lose him too. It was like a part of us died, Davis. We all have this hole in us that can't be filled. We know our Digimon are over there, and that hurts even worse. It... It fucking sucks to know how close they are, but we can't even feel them." The young man sighed sadly. "I can't tell you how many times I poured myself over a computer trying to get back to Agumon. I thought the same thing you did. If I did it once, why not again? But without Agumon to bring me over... There's nothing I can do."

Even though it was clear Davis still didn't believe there was nothing that could be done, it was also obvious that he didn't want to fight with Taichi over it. He would still be shouting and pumping his fists and carrying on if it were any other Chosen Child, but not Tai. "Okay, Taichi. I'm sorry for bringing it up," he said quietly.

"It's okay," Tai said with a nod. "I just wish I still had the kind of hope and determination that you do." He sighed again. "I hate myself for giving up, but we just ran out of ideas."

Davis swallowed, looking down at his arms. Suddenly, he held up the one with the bracelet around it that Wormmon had given him. "See this?" Davis said. "That gate I came through... I can get back with this," he said. "And once we all put our heads together and figure out how to crack that case, I'm gonna go back in there and get the DigiEggs out."

His head immediately snapped up to look at Davis' wrist. "You can get back?!" Tai rushed over and grabbed the boy's arm to get a good look at the bracelet. "Why didn't you mention this before? Davis! Izzy could study this and maybe even make more! We could all potentially go back to the Digital World!"

"Sorry," Davis said sheepishly. "I just... didn't want a reason to go back at first," Davis said, looking at the bracelet. "But now I know that I have to." He grinned then. "Hopefully we will be able to make more... But if not," Davis said, finally looking back at Taichi. "If not, the first DigiEgg I'm bringing back is Agumon's. And I'll go back as many times as I have to until we have them all."

Tai just laughed, loud and happy, and ruffled Davis' short hair. "See? This is why I knew you'd make a great leader."

Davis grinned widely, happy to be receiving praise rather than scolding. The tense atmosphere seemed to lift instantly and he straightened up, grabbing Tai's hand in a tight, meaningful grip. "I need to make up for leaving for four years," he said. "And even if it takes another four years, we're going to win this one way or another."

Tai nodded and squeezed back. "That's the spirit."


	23. First Day

Tai had made sure Davis was ready when the first day of school came. He had a backpack full of empty binders and folders, paper and pencils. Pinamon and Chibimon were set up with enough food to last them until Tai got back from his morning class, and Davis finally had a small wrack where all of Tai's old clothes were hung for him to choose from. Davis had dressed in his idol's old outfit of choice - a layering of a yellow shirt and a blue shirt with brown shorts, oversized socks, and sneakers. Somehow, it made him feel more confident. Goggles were secured, keeping his bangs out of his face, and he was now nibbling on half of a toasted bagel as he stood in the foyer and checked the time. "Someone said they'd come over and walk me until I know the way by myself, right?" he called in to the bedroom where Tai was getting prepared for his own classes.

"Yeah, TK lives closest so he'll be coming by to get you. He should be here in about five minutes. Oh! And make sure you take your meds," Tai called back from his bedroom where he was pulling on a pair of socks. "He has your class shedule already. Izzy managed into the school's computer system and you're all set up as a transfer student from Shibuya. The best we could do is make you a single child from a foster home. That way, it's not as suspicious for there to be limited files about you."

"Alright, I'll try and remember that," Davis said, sighing quietly as he had to edge into the bathroom to take the medication. He still didn't like it, even though Joe had convinced him that it was necessary. It just didn't feel right, but he sucked it up and dealt with it without complaining, like he did profusely when he first started.

Tai slipped in behind Davis in the bathroom to take his own meds. He always tried to take his at the same time as Davis in hopes that the boy wouldn't feel so self-conscious about it. "Did you have any juice?" he asked, now in the kitchen and pouring himself a glass.

"Yeah," Davis responded as he put his bagel back into his mouth, taking to waiting in the foyer again, standing where he could see into the kitchen. "I had everything except this," he said, gesturing to his bagel as he continued to talk around nibbling on it. "I'm ready to go as soon as TK gets here."

Tai was smiling when he pulled the glass from his lips. "You seem pretty eager to try high school, Davis. I'm surprised."

"I'm psyched for soccer tryouts this afternoon," Davis clarified with a smirk.

The older teen laughed. "Ah, so that's it. At least you're honest." Suddenly the doorbell rang and Tai gestured for Davis to open it, knowing it could be no one else except TK.

"G'morning!" Davis yawned as he swung the door open. "Took ya long enough."

"Yeah yeah, says the kid who was always late for class four years ago," TK replied with a grin and held his hand up in a youthful greeting. "Or is Ichiro Otsuka the kind of guy who's actually going to be on time for everything and make all A's?"

"Oh yeah, Ichiro's gonna kick ass," Davis said with a smirk. "Man, I'm not gonna remember that name."

"Well you'd better," TK insisted. "Daisuke Motomiya died four years ago. It's only while you're at school. Ichiro Otsuka. Ichiro Otsuka. Ichiro Otsuka."

"Once everyone starts calling me that I guess I'll get used to it," Davis said with a long exhale. He then looked over his shoulder as he walked out the door. "Well, seeya later Taichi! And be good Pinamon, Chibimon!"

"Good luck!" Tai called as he waved after them.

Out on the street, TK couldn't helping looking over how Davis was dressed. The blonde was stuck in cool grey slacks with a black belt, a white button down shirt which was tucked in, and a blue-grey jacket with the school emblem on the right pocket. "Oh man, tansfer students are so lucky. You get that one day of dress code freedom. I think that's the one thing I miss about elementary school. No uniforms."

"I'm not looking forward to the uniforms. Or having to get fitted for them," Davis responded with a groan. He then glanced over at how TK was dressed, and could only come up with, "It's weird seeing you with no hat."

TK frowned and touched the top of his head. "Yeah, I miss my hat, too. Oh yeah!" He reached into his carrier bag and pulled out the paper with Davis' schedule on it. "I'll fill you in on classes. First is 17th century history. You actually have that with both Kari and me. Right now we're studying when the Tokugawa Shogunate instituted the Sakoku. That's when all the foreigners were expelled and no one was allowed to enter or leave Japan. Second period is early-modern literature. Right now everyone is reading selected volumes from Nanso Satomi Hakkenden. There's a short essay due on volumes one, three, and nine next week. Third period is algebra II where we just started learning about polynomials last week. Kari says your teacher likes to give pop quizzes. Fourth period is lunch hour. Fifth period is gym. Since the weather is so warm, they're doing baseball right now. Sixth period biology, and then seventh period is your elective."

"Jeez," Davis sighed, taking the paper into his hands. "I didn't catch half of what you just said."

TK just smiled and patted Davis on the back. "Don't worry. You'll get the hang of it, and you've got Kari with you all day. If anyone can make you feel better under stress, she can."

"Do you think they'd let me drop one of these for art or something?" Davis said as he looked over the academic classes he had. "This is gonna slaughter me."

"Um... maybe." TK scratched the back of his head. "Freshman don't normally get free range pick like that. If you want art your first year, it has to be your elective. Our sophmore year is when we get into recrational stuff. From what I hear, we take art, music, and theatre all at the some time, but they rotate through each day."

Davis just exhaled and folded the paper up, slipping it into his shorts pocket. "Oh well. I'll just have to deal with it, I guess. So, how long's the walk there?"

TK pointed. "Just right around the corner here. Kari should be waiting for us at the gate." Sure enough she was there in her grey pleated skirt, white shirt, and blue-grey hanging bow under the collar. TK sped up just a little so he could greet her. "Morning, Kari," he said and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Ichiro is all ready for his first day. Go easy on him, okay?"

Kari smiled, blushing a bit. "Of course," she said, before turning to Davis. "Did you get your schedule?"

"Yeah," Davis said, motioning towards his pocket.

"Then we're good to go," Kari said. "You guys got here just before-" Her words were cut off as the school bell rung. "Homeroom. Let's go. See you in first period, TK!" Kari called as she grabbed Davis by the wrist and lead him inside. Classroom 1B was their destination, and Davis would find all eyes on him. It wasn't surprising, given that he wasn't in uniform. A few girls started whispering and giggling to each other over how built and cute Davis was. A group of boys in the back took to studying him as well, maybe scoping out the competition. After all the routine role call and such was taken care of, the teacher called Davis up to the front of the room so he could introduce himself.

When he was given the opportunity to introduce himself, Davis cleared his throat, buying himself time as he ran his story a few times through his head, making sure he had it right. "Hi," he started with a sheepsh wave, the other hand holding one strap of the bag he had slung over his shoulder. "My name's Ichiro Otsuka... I just transfered here from, uh... Shibuya."

"What sort of hobbies do you have?" the teacher asked, trying to get the boy to open up a little bit more.

"Well, I like soccer," Davis offered, realizing his hand was still raised and scratching at the back of his head instead.

"Oh? Do you think you'll be joining our team this year?"

"Hopefully," Davis said with a grin. "I'm gonna try out."

"Good, well thank you Ichiro. You may sit down." A review of some upcoming school events were discussed before the bell rang dismissing the students to first period.

TK had managed some seats by the window, saving the two in front of him with his jacket and school bag. "Here, Davis, you can sit in the middle. That way Kari and I can help you if you need it."

"Thanks," Davis said with a smile as he slid into the seat. When the class started, Davis tried his best to follow the lesson, and thankfully history was straightforward enough that he basically understood it. When it came time for second period, he was a bit more confused, and had to constantly ask Kari what kids were talking about. And math was even worse. Finally, fourth period came around and Davis collapsed into his seat with a groan. "This is gonna suck," he grumbled.

"Oh, come on, Davis," Kari said as she sat down next to him with her tray. "It's not so bad. It's only your first day, you'll get the hang of it."

TK nodded in agreement. "It wasn't easy for us at first either. I was almost convinced I wouldn't survive my first week. You just have to let yourself fall into it. Just remember that you have all of us with you. Before every test, no matter who has one, we get together for study nights. We all help each other get ready. You'll be fine." Blue glanced down the table at some kids who were looking at Davis, but when they saw TK looking at them, they all turned away. "The hard part is surviving the food chain."

"Food chain?" Davis asked, looking up and running his fingers through his hair as he did. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well... high school kids are a lot more judgmental than we were back in elementary," Kari explained gently.

"Great," Davis murmured. "Gotta make sure my first impression's good, then." He then smirked, sitting himself up again and pounding his fist to his chest. "And it will be. Anyone that comes to see the soccer tryouts will know I'm not messin' around."

"Right!" TK said encouragingly. "You keep that positive attitude up, and no one will think less of you." The blond boy smiled. "I got lucky and have Yamato's fame to ride on, but you'll find your own way of standing out."

"You guys should come see too," Davis suggested. "Blow your mind."

"When did you even play last?" Yolei asked from where she sat next to TK.

"Doesn't matter," Davis said, shaking his head. "I'm gonna be captain by mid-afternoon."

TK smirked. "Well I heard Davis got all beefed up while he was away," he said and leaned in on one elbow. "Apparently he's ripping up the field, jumping over buildings, and lifting cars over his head. Or he might as well be with the way Taichi was going on about him to my brother."

"He speaks the truth!" Davis said with a laugh. "I may as well be a superhero. Team captain will be nothing for my awesome skills."

"Well, I'll come watch," Kari said with a small smile.

"I'll come too. I bet you're just full of hot air," Yolei said, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"You'll see," Davis practically sung, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head.

TK just laughed and shook his head before breaking into the bento box his mom had packed him for lunch. "I see humility is something you've yet to practice. Better be careful or your head might explode."

"Nothing wrong with some self-confidence," Davis said with a shrug. "And it's well deserved. You'll see." When lunch ended and they moved on to gym, Davis decided to play it down and not do anything particularly spectacular. No, his audience was waiting for him after school. He practically fidgeted all through science, but then it was finally time. Since sports electives had to be tried out for, he spent most of seventh period just waiting around as kids turned out to the field to sign up. And then when school was out, it was time for tryouts. Davis was given a spare sports uniform and kept on the sneakers he wore to school, taking his place in the long line of boys trying out for the team. At the same time, Kari was ushering TK and Yolei up into the bleachers so they could get a good view of the field.

"Otsuka!" the coach belted out the name when it was finally Davis' turn. He looked the kid up and down, silently impressed with such an athletic build. "You're a freshman, is that correct? All right, Otsuka, I want you to kick the first ball in a serpentine pattern into the home goal over there. Next you're going to steal a pass from our two seniors Hyosuke and Jiro. After that you'll kick as many of the seven balls lined up over there into the guest goal. Is that clear?"

"Got it!" Davis responded, and was immediately off. The first task was nothing; he practically sped the ball across the field, weaving around imaginary players and rocketing it into the goal. He then moved on to the seniors, stealing the ball easily and also shooting it across the field. And last, the line of balls. One, two, three... each one shot into the goal fast with great precision. The seventh ball hit the metal edge of the soccer goal, but shot off in such an angle that it joined the rest in the goal. Davis pumped his fists in the air and hissed quietly to himself, "I'm the man!"

Everyone cheered, both on the field and in the bleachers. The coach was also nodding with a subtle grin. This kid was good. Most boys could only get four or five of the balls in on their first try, and only half could get the ball from his seniors. "That was good, Otsuka!" he called and waved Davis back in. "Did you play soccer at your last school?"

"Sure did!" Davis called as he ran back to the coach, over to him in practically a few seconds. "I was team captain there."

"Well I bet they were cryin' when they had to let you go. You keep this up, and you'll be freshman captain before our first game." The coach turned back to the rest of the kids. "If I call your name, step forward! Fujimaki, Amagawa, Tamuro, Mizoguchi, Baisotei, Eguchi, Arihyoshi, Yamakazi, Yamabe, Uoya, Okubo, Gakusha, and Inouye! All of you are to follow Otsuka in five complete laps around this field. Congratulations, you all made the team!"

Davis grinned widely in victory. Here was his chance to shine. He lined up at the front of the newly formed team, and as soon as they were signaled to start, he took off. "Whoah!" Kari squeaked from up in the stand.

"I guess he wasn't kidding," Yolei added, fixing her glasses.

"I just hope he doesn't let it all go to his head," TK said. "I won't lie and say this isn't impressive, but we need to keep him in check." He looked at Kari then. "We can't let him grab too much attention. If just one person recognizes him, we might have a big fiasco on our hands. It's not everyday a kid comes back from the dead after three years."

Kari nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we're going to have to make sure he's careful," she said as she watched Davis lap the rest of the kids. She put on a small frown then. "And less practically, he's very prone to getting an over-inflated ego anyway."

TK wrapped one arm around the girl's shoulders. "But you've been living with Taichi all your life, so I'm sure you know how to handle a guy like that," he said with a gentle laugh.

Kari giggled a bit, though she got a sad look on her face at the same time. "But Taichi's been able to grow up and adjust. He's far more mature now. Davis didn't really get that chance."

The blond nodded. "That's true. I guess I like to believe that Davis will just get the hang of it, but it probably doesn't work that way. Davis loved being a kid, so it's probably going to be really hard for him to let go of that feeling. I guess we just... Have to keep that much closer of an eye on him."

"Mhm," Kari said, again nodding in agreement. "Hopefully that'll be enough." She then looked back to the field and tilted her head to the side a bit.

"He's still going..." Yolei said, voicing her confusion.

"Really?" TK looked to the field as well. "He must have run at least eight laps by now." TK then cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Ichiro! Ichiro!" When he got Davis' attention, he made a gesture like 'slow down.'

Davis sort of slowed to a jog in place, legs still moving as he looked up at TK from where he was on the field. After a few moments of quizzical staring he got the message and finished the lap he was doing with a light jog before stopping in front of the coach, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his arm. The coach was practically beaming when Davis came to stand in front of him. "Otsuka, you are imcredible! I can already taste our victory at nationals. It's gonna be you and me up there holding that trophy! Now I'm sure you understand we have to go through the formalities of a few more practice sessions before actually picking a captain, but I can almost guarantee you'll be my top pick. You keep this up, Otsuka, and you can get a scholarship!"

"Really?" Davis breathed, a toothy grin coming over his face. "Thanks, sir!" The trouble he'd had keeping up in his classes that day seemed to just melt away with those words. When the other kids finished, they were dismissed to get showered and changed back into their school clothes to walk home, and Davis walked into that locker room feeling like a million bucks.

"Hey, big shot!" Davis would find himself suddenly shoved into the lockers by the student known as Inouye, and coming to stand behind him was Tamuro and Yamabe. "What's your damage!? You just come waltzing in here on your first day and think you're hot shit? None of us are impressed. In fact, we think you need to take it down a notch, or we're gonna knock you down instead."

Davis growled as he picked himself up from the lockers, standing up straight and facing the other boys. "Don't blame me for doing my best," he snapped. "And I don't think you could do anything to me that's worse than what I've gone through," he added with a shrug before he tried to simply walk away.

Inouye reached out, grabbing Davis' shoulder, and slammed him up against the lockers again. "Yeah, we heard all about your little sob story. Mom was some red district slut and dad was a drunk who beat you. Well guess what? We all got our own problems. Just because you got a couple of scratches and have been passed around the system a couple of times doesn't mean we're gonna feel sorry for you. Now I'm only gonna say this one more time. Knock off the superman shit, or we're gonna have to put you down."

Suddenly, rage ignited inside of Davis. Was that the story he had to adopt?! No way. His parents were good people who waited for him and prayed he was alive and were devastated when they had to let go. No way was he going to let some kid pass around a story that his father was a drunk and his mother was a whore. And that fire inside made words spill over his lips faster than he could think about them. "I'd like to see you try."

"Fine." Inouye snapped his fingers, signaling both Tamuro and Yamabe to each take an arm and hold Davis against the lockers. Inouye then cracked his knuckles and delivered a powerful punch to Davis' stomach. Davis winced and groaned slightly, but just like his confrontation with the Kaiser weeks ago, he looked up with a grin and shook his head. The other boy scowled, gritting his teeth. "I'm not playing around here, Ee-chee-row!" Inouye grabbed Davis' shoulders and thrust his knee up into the same spot his fist just attacked.

Again, Davis took the blow with a grunt and a flinch, and then his own leg lifted up and slammed into the other boy's stomach, pushing him back. "Neither am I," he countered.

"Nng!" Inouye stumbled back clutching at his stomach. There was even a small splatter of bile on the floor. Tamuro didn't take too kindly to seeing his friend get kicked like that, so he took it upon himself to knock Davis across the jaw.

Now Davis cried out, and he then jerked his arms away and punched Tamuro's face back. With the other boy reeling, Davis simply pushed away the last boy until they were all a good distance away from him. "It's really not a good idea to pick fights," he stated as he tried to walk past the one he'd simply knocked down, again heading towards the showers.

At this point, it was just pride and young testosterone raging between them. Inouye didn't want to be the one who got his ass beat, so it was on male instinct alone that he suddenly shouted and tackled Davis from behind. "Inouye, cut it out!" Yamabe said. He wasn't too big on the idea of ganging up on the new kid, but Inouye was intimidating to say the least.

Davis' eyes widened with surprise when he felt himself tipping over and he hit the floor with a thud. Suddenly he was trying to scramble out from underneath the other boy, trying to pull himself out by the tiles, which didn't work well at all. "Get off me!" he barked, trying to flip over and push the other kid off.

"No! You listen to me right now!" Inouye barked. "I didn't bust my ass in middle school to be top dog in sports just for you to come along and piss all over my dog house! If anyone is going to be team captain, it's me! So you better get it through your thick skull that some hand-me-down foster kid isn't going to take that away from me!"

Finally managing to get on his back, Davis growled up at the boy on top of him, "If you were meant to be captain you wouldn't have to worry about me."

Inuoye stared at Davis, his dark brown eyes just wide with rage. His whole body shook before he screamed, "Shut up!" and punched Davis square in the nose.

"That's enough!" a deep voice suddenly boomed. It seemed a kid with a conscience ran to the coach when the fight broke out, so now the man was grabbing Inouye by his collar and dragging him off of Davis. "We don't tolerate this kind of attitude in my locker room or on my field. You're off the team, Inouye!"

"But coach-!"

"No buts! I don't want to hear it! Now I'm taking you straight to the principal." Before leaving, though, the man looked down at his soon-to-be star player. "You all right, Ichiro? I can take you to the nurses office."

"I'm fine," Davis said as he got to his feet, now touching his nose, which was bleeding. He pulled his hand away, studying the blood on the tips of his fingers, but shook his hand and his head. "It doesn't hurt so much, I'll just head home and bandage it up after my shower."

"Well hold on a second." The coach bent over slightly so he could get a closer look at the boy's nose. He touched it carefully, pressing just slightly to make sure it wasn't broken. "All right," he said and stood up. "Nothing seems to be cracked or dislodged, so I'll let you take care of it. Just don't go trying any face tricks tomorrow, okay, Otsuka?"

Davis managed a slight laugh. "No face tricks. Got it," he said, before bowing to the coach slightly and then heading for the showers he'd been detained from during the fight. When he emerged from the building, dressed in the clothes he came to school in with his backpack over his shoulder, exiting the back of the building to pass the field, Kari, TK, and Yolei were waiting nervously at the door.

"What happened?" Yolei asked, eyes widening when she noticed the now clean cut going across his face and the bruise that was starting to show on his jaw.

"I made some friends in the locker room," Davis explained curtly, adjusting his backpack's strap on his shoulder.

"Inouye?" TK asked all too knowingly.

"We have a winner," Davis sighed, sweeping his hand out even as he closed his eyes. "What a dick. He was pissed some foster kid's better than him."

TK nodded. "Yeah, apparently his brother was soccer captain here like... six years ago. Their whole family are these big sports buffs. He's been bragging to everyone that he would be team captain once soccer season rolled around. He's not the kind of kid who likes this thunder to be stolen, but someone really needed to shut him up."

"Well, I just hope he doesn't make the rest of the team hate my guts," Davis sighed. "I got enough of that in elementary." As he said that, he turned and started to walk away. Kari bit her lip and gestured for them to follow him home. Yolei nodded knowingly and waved her goodbyes to the two; she had after-school obligations.

TK jogged a bit to catch up. "Davis, there's no way they're going to hate you. If anything, those guys are going to look up to you. I mean... The way you dominated that field. That was some impressive stuff. You just have to be cool about it. You're really funny and likable without even having to try. So just be yourself, you know?"

Davis offered TK a bit of a grin. "Thanks, man. I hope that'll work."

"Of course it will," Kari said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Just don't show off and be yourself and everyone will love you."

Davis stiffened a bit, glancing over at her quickly. "I wasn't showing off," he clarified curtly.

"What she means is don't overdo it," TK explained. "Like when you were running laps. You finished the five way before everyone else, and then you even kept going. Believe me, I thought it was awesome, but you don't want to make the others feel bad. You can finish before the other guys, but don't show them up by going more laps. That's when they'll start to get pissed off."

"I just figured I might as well have gotten more of a workout in, since we weren't gonna be dismissed until they finished," Davis said with a sigh and a shrug. "I guess I see your point, though."

"Oh, Davis..." Kari murmured, touching her own nose as she noticed that his was starting to bleed again. "Why didn't you go to the nurse?"

"It's fine," Davis insisted, wiping the blood off with his arm. "I'll just bandage it when I get home."

As they walked, TK watched Davis' face, the way he walked, the way he held himself. It still wasn't quite Davis. He knew it would take time, but TK really wanted his friend back. The way he remembered him. "Hey... Daisuke?"

"Hm?" Davis hummed, glancing over at the blond confusedly when he heard his real name. "What is it?"

TK stood there nervously for a minute, clenching and releasing his hands, but eventually he stepped forward and hugged the other boy. "No matter how things end up... I'm just really glad you're back, okay? I really missed you."

The three of them stopped, Davis looking surprised and Kari just smiling slightly as she came to a halt after the boys did. Davis was quiet for a moment, before his stiff body relaxed and he grinned a bit. "Thanks, Takeru. I missed you guys, too."

The blond boy pulled back with his own grin. "You're really gonna love me now. Here..." And that's when TK presented Davis with a box that he was carrying in his school bag. "I took the liberty of going and getting a school uniform for you. Now you get to dress as handsome as me," he laughed.

"Aw, sweet. Now I don't need to go through the whole fitting bit." His grin was now a true one as he tucked the box under his arm and offered his hand for a high-five. Kari smiled as the three of them seemed to pick up their pace again, from a stop to a casual walk. This felt more like it should have, the friendship they'd been missing for four long years. She was glad to see that they weren't all too far gone from each other.

TK returned the gesture and walked Davis the rest of the way home. They all waved goodbye, and he promised to pick Davis up again tomorrow morning. "Don't forget our study group on Friday! We're gonna get you caught up!" he called from down on the street.

"Got it! I'll remember!" Davis assured him, waving until TK and Kari turned a corner. He then headed upstairs, letting himself into the apartment with the spare key Tai had lent him. He headed straight for the bathroom, hoping to clean up and bandage his nose before anyone noticed he was back.

Except Davis couldn't really expect Chibimon not to know when his boy got home. "Daaaaavisssss!" the tiny voice cried with joy as he took a flying leap and latched himself onto the boy's leg.

"Oh, uh, hey, Chibimon," Davis said with a laugh, still trying to get into the bathroom even with the blue Digimon hanging on his leg. "How was your day, buddy?"

"Sooooo boooooring," Chibimon moaned. "Pinamon wanted to go outside but I told him we weren't allowed so then we tried watching TV and we got to see some cartoons but they ended and then we couldn't find anything else to watch so we ate all our food which made us fall asleep for a while but then we woke up and were bored again and we thought you might come home soon but you didn't so we tried to play together expcept Pinamon can fly and I can't so that was kinda hard but now you're home and you can play with us!"

Davis couldn't help another laugh as he rummaged around in the medicine cabinet, pulling out some bandages and starting to clean off his face. Good thing Chibimon seemed content to talk into his leg. "Yeah Chibimon, and I will. I just gotta get settled in, y'know. First day was... eventful."

"How is high school? Did you learn lots of new stuff? Did you have fun with your friends? Were the other kids nice to you? Are the teachers good? Did you have to go to the prinipals office? Was the food good? Are the classes hard? Did you get to play soccer? Are you going back tomorrow? Are you gonna be gone just as long? Are you sure we can't come with you? You can carry us in your bag and I promise we'll be really really quite so you can pretend we're stuffed animals and all the other kids will think we're really cute and then I won't have to be away from you all day. Oh! And Pinamon found this can of chocolate gooey stuff in the pantry! It was sooooo good and I ate most of it because it kept getting in Pinamon's feathers and I could eat it without making a mess because I have paws. What is that stuff anyway Davis? Can we have some more? I'll even go to the store with you and show you which one it is!"

"Whoah, whoah, calm down Chibimon," Davis laughed as he began to bandage up his nose. "School was good, I don't really understand the classes but TK, Kari, Yolei, and everyone else set up study sessions to help me. I got to try out for soccer today and I got on the team, and yeah, I'm gonna go back tomorrow and no, you can't come. If anyone sees you move or talk they'll flip." He then looked down at the blue Digimon after the bandage was secured across the bridge of his nose. "And I wouldn't eat anything out of Taichi's pantry if you don't know what it is," he added.

"Here I'll show you!" Chibimon said as though he didn't hear anything his boy had said. He jumped onto the floor, ran to the kitchen, and then came back holding up an empty can of chocolate frosting that was almost as big as him. "See? See? See?"

"Jeez, Chibimon," Davis said, taking the can and looking inside. Licked clean. "You ate this whole thing? It's frosting, dude, you put it on cakes and stuff. You don't eat it straight."

Chibimon was hopping in place. "You don't? But I did! And it was good! Good! Good! I love chocolate! You know how much I love chocolate. Love! Love! Love chocolate! There's no frosting in the Digital World, y'know. Cakes with frosting on them, yeah, but no cans of frosting. Nope. Nope. Nope. Wow it was really good! Hey! HEY!" His paw pointed at Davis' face. "What happened to your nose, huh? Walk into a door or something? Clumsy! Clumsy!"

Davis smiled at his hyperactive Digimon, picking him up so the blue Digimon started wiggling in his grasp. "Yeah, something like that," he said as he walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him. "I probably should watch my step a bit more carefully."

"Down the hall into a wall! Out the door onto the floor! Down the hall into a wall! Out the door onto the floor!" Chibimon chanted nonsensically, even though it made sense to him. "Smooth moves, Grace! It's funny, Davis! Get it? Get it? Get it? Cause grace means graceful but you were clumsy!"

"I get it," Davis said, walking over to the couch and letting his backpack fall to the floor before he set Chibimon on his back on top of his own lap and started to tickle the Digimon. Chibimon shrieked with giggles, wriggling uncontrollably under Davis' hands. Davis managed a smirk as he attacked the little Digimon with his fingers. He loved doing this, it made him feel like he really was taking care of Chibimon and making him happy. He leaned back on the couch and propped his feet up on the table so Chibimon was facing him as he continued to tickle the Digimon's white belly and under his tiny, stumpy arms.

"Davis!" Chibimon cried through his giggles. "Stop! Stop! I'm gonna throw up!"

Davis suddenly lifted his fingers, laughing himself a bit. "Sorry, Chibimon," he apologized, even though he was grinning widely.

Chibimon squeaked out a burp, now looking a little drunk. "I don't think I should have eaten so much frosting, Davis. My tummy's so full and grumpy."

"You never learn, Chibimon," Davis said, grinning as he dug his finger into his Digimon's stomach a bit. "No matter how many times this happens to you you just do it again with something else." Chibimon's belly gave an irritated gurgle when prodded by Davis, and the Digimon turned green in the cheeks. Davis looked confused at first, but suddenly gasped, trying to scramble to his feet and get Chibimon into the bathroom.

The little Digimon pursed his lips together, trying to hold it in, but the bulging in his cheeks meant that would not last long. The instant he felt Davis holding him over the cool porcelin, Chibimon just blurted the frosting back up into the toilet. Tai was heard laughing at them from the doorway just a few seconds later. "Oh man, that sucks."

Davis looked over his shoulder as he held his Digimon, groaning a bit at the noises. "You're gonna have to make sure he can't get into the pantry anymore," he sighed. "Or else this will happen a lot."

"Hey, this is better than him taking a dump in some guy's van," remarked Tai.

Davis raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Koromon did that once," he explained. "It was the first time all of us and our Digimon came back to the real world. Mimi and Sora got us a ride with some jerk teenager, and Koromon accidentaly dumped on the seats."

Davis snickered slightly. "So if the guy was a jerk, he got what he deserved."

Tai laughed as well. "Yeah, he did."

"Uhhnnn... Davis, I'm done now," Chibimon groaned.

Davis reached over to grab a few tissues and wipe of Chibimon's face and set him down on the floor. "Feel any better?" he asked.

Chibimon nodded. "But now I'm sleepy."

"You gonna flush that?"

"Go sleep, then," Davis said, nodding as he reached over and flushed the sick away. He then pushed Chibimon out of the room encouragingly before standing up, touching his bandage in the mirror before heading out of the room himself, turning off the light and closing the door behind him.

The little blue Digimon stumbled off to the bedroom where he would curl up in the sleeping bag and pass out. Tai backed up as Davis came out, but not without noticing his face first. "What happened to you?"

"Fight," Davis sighed quietly as he went over to the couch, where he'd put down his bag. "Some kids in the locker room weren't too happy with me at soccer tryouts."

Taichi frowned and followed the boy. "What? Why? They don't even know you."

Davis put his hands behind his head, leaning back against the cushions. "I just transferred in and already there's rumors about who I am and what happened to my parents. And these kids were mad some foster transfer student was better than them."

"Tch, dicks," Tai grumbled as he fell into the seat beside Davis. "What do they know? They wouldn't have to say shit like that if they weren't so insecure about themselves."

"I just hope that they aren't really popular with other kids, or else I'm going to get a bad reputation really fast," Davis murmured, again kicking up his feet and resting them on the table. "And I really don't need that."

"Well, high school is all about rumors, so you just have to set them all straight really fast."

"How?" Davis asked, looking over at the other brunet.

"Tell people the truth." Tai smiled weakly. "Or the truth you want them to know. Say that your parents died in a car crash or something. At least then you'll get sympathy."

"The current rumor is that my dad was an alcoholic and my mom was a whore," Davis murmured, lowering his arms to his side, hands forming into fists. "That story pissed me off so much."

"Woah, are you serious?" Tai honestly looked shocked. "That's a dirty rumor for your first day. Kids are such bastards sometimes. I mean, what do they really have to gain from saying stuff like that?"

"Who knows," Davis murmured. "But if I ever figure out who started that rumor, I'll... I'll wring his neck."

"I bet you if anything, the kid who said it made it up on the spot just to hassle you."

"Then it better not spread, or I'll go back and kick his ass a second time. No one talks about my parents like that."

Tai squeezed Davis' shoulder. "Cool down. If you get mad, it'll just show him it bothers you and he'll keep using it against you."

Davis let out a long exhale, but it was clear from the look on his face that pure rage was bubbling beneath his skin. "It just... really does bother me."

"I know. You can hit me if you want. Get it out."

"I'm not gonna hit you," Davis said, shaking his head. "I'll beat up a pillow before I go to bed or something."

Tai was about to insist, but then stopped. "Maybe you're right. I forgot how strong you've gotten. You might send me through a wall," he laughed.

"I'll apologize in advance if I destroy your pillow," Davis said with a laugh, which seemed to help him relax.

"I'll just take your food money and use it to buy another one," Tai returned.

Davis laughed again, louder this time, putting his hand on his nose as it started to hurt a little from it. "Thanks a lot," he snickered.

"Anytime." Tai stood and went to the kitchen. "Ramen okay for dinner?"

"Sounds good to me," Davis said, as he lugged his backpack over to his side. He groaned as he started to sort through all of the papers he'd gotten to get him caught up on his classes. He had a lot of reading to do, so he started while he waited for Tai to prepare dinner.

Thanks to the magic of the microwave, their dinner was ready in only fifteen minutes. Tai came out with their bowls, two bottles of water, and two plastic forks. "Mind if I watch TV?"

"Go for it," Davis said, setting the papers in his lap as he took his utensils and bowl from Tai with a nod, letting the water be placed on the table.

Tai grabbed the remote and immediately turned a game on, knowing exactly what time and what channel to be at. "Russia and Chile, wow." Of course, Davis tried to concentrate on his work, but kept glancing up at the television. And eventually, his attention went from simply being split to him setting aside the paper and taking to sucking down his noodles as he watched the game. "After this it's study time," Tai said. "I like to watch TV during dinner, but then homework has to be done, okay? If we finish, the TV goes back on." He went back to eating, but paused to say, "And not one word about how 'mom' I sound."

Davis opened his mouth to say something, but snickered at Tai's last comment and said instead, "Yes dad."

Tai nudged Davis. "Shut uuuup...."

Davis laughed, simply nudging the other boy back. "What? You're not going to come to Parents Day for me?"

"Tch, are you kidding? That was painful enough the first time around. No way I'm going back. I waved to those teachers on graduation day and never looked back, man."

"They'd be awfully surprised to see you back under these circumstances if you did come for me," Davis said with an amused smirk.

"'Why, Mr. Yagami, I didn't know you and Mr. Ishida adopted this teenage boy who is obviously only a few years younger than you. Good for you though, making a difference. I take back all those C's I gave you!'"

Davis nearly spat out the noodles he'd put in his mouth at that. When he swallowed he was giggling to himself. "If only," he said after a moment.

Tai laughed at Davis' reaction. "You should have seen your face!"

"Just be happy they didn't come out my nose or you'd have nose noodles all over your couch," Davis responded with a smirk.

"That's so nasty. But yeah, Parents Day is a waste of time anyway. All they need to know is in our report cards."

"If you say so," Davis said, shrugging his shoulders as he put his brown eyes back on the television.


	24. Counselor

Davis tried his best to catch up in school, but whenever he picked up a book or tried to sit down to do work, everything just looked so foreign that it might as well have been another language. And the harder he tried to decipher the words on the page, the more likely it was that his mind would wader to other things. Soccer, the Kaiser, the DigiEggs, his parents. All thoughts that dominated his mind and pushed school work away. He knew he was doing terribly. No one else had to know. He just stuffed failed quizzes into his bag as soon as he got them back and did just enough homework so he had something to present to the teacher in front of his fellow students, even if his work was sub par because his mind had wandered far, far away from the subject matter that was too distant from him for him to grasp. He spent most of his class time staring out the window, trying so hard to listen to the teacher's lesson at the same time, but not understanding a word of it and feeling himself drift away with every new term he didn't understand. He convinced himself he'd be fine. After all, he was captain of the football team. A star. A prodigy. Something he'd never been before. So what if his grades were lousy? So long as he continued to ride on his success in soccer, everything would be fine.

Another afternoon of drills had all the team members sweating and panting, but they weren't allowed to stop. The coach knew they had it in them. Run the field, pass a kick, shoot goals, block kicks, run the field... "Otsuka!" he suddenly bellowed from the sideline, clipboard in hand with his eyes trained on the page. "Otsuka, front and center!"

Davis looked surprised, but ran towards the coach, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Yes, coach?" he asked as he approached.

"I've got a progress report here that says you're failing math and science, and that you've got a D in just about everything else. Now is this accurate or did somebody get some grades mixed up?"

Davis swallowed slightly, scratching at the back of his head. "Y-yeah, it's true," he murmured. "I... I'm having a hard time adjusting," he offered.

The coach frowned worriedly. "Otsuka, if your grades don't improve by midterm, I'm gonna have to put you on academic suspension. Were you aware of this?"

"On academic what now?" Davis asked.

"Academic suspension." The coach held Davis' shoulder. "It means you can't play until your grades get better. You have to be making Cs or higher, Otsuka."

"Wh-what?" Davis' eyes went wide. "I didn't know that!"

"It's okay. Calm down. We still have time to bring your grades up before midterm. I understand that adjusting to a new life and a new family can be hard, but we can get you help. You can talk to the guidance counselor and get tutoring for your school work."

"Great..." Davis groaned, running his hand back through his hair. That's the last thing he wanted, but he nodded thankfully nonetheless. "Thanks, coach. Hopefully that'll help."

"You gotta promise me you'll get the help, though. If you don't do it on your own, you and I will have to make arrangements together."

"I can do it," Davis said. "No problem."

"Good." The coach nodded and gave the boy a slap on the back. "Now get out there and show them how to do it!"

Davis just nodded, suddenly feeling shaky even as he rushed back onto the field to rejoin the drills. All of this time he'd been just barely getting by academically, focusing on making himself stronger, faster, better for soccer so that he could use it as his ticket up in the world. But if he was put on academic suspension, the whole thing would come crashing down around him. But on the other hand, he didn't want to need a tutor. He wanted the help, but he didn't want to need it. It messed with his mind in a way that he could tell threw him off his game a little for the rest of the practice, which only pressed his mood down further.

"Davis!" TK ran up to his friend the next morning, waving even though he was behind the brunet. "Wow, man, you look like a truck hit you," he said when finally seeing how down and worn out Davis looked. "What's wrong?"

"I stayed up all night trying to study," Davis murmured, rubbing his temples. "It didn't work out so well," he added, as he brushed his hair out of his face. He's learned early on that his goggles were not welcome as part of the school uniform.

TK frowned. "You know you could have come to my place. I've offered, like, a million times to help you study."

"Sorry, I didn't even think of that," Davis said, now rubbing his eyelids as they continued to walk. Which, eventually, lead to him not seeing where he was going and running straight into a pole on the side of the sidewalk. He came to a halt and hissed, rubbing at his forehead where he'd struck the metal pole. "Damn it..."

"Davis..." The blond checked to make sure there wasn't a cut before continuing on. "Kari says you daydream in class a lot."

"I don't daydream," Davis said, still rubbing the now tender spot. "I try and listen, but I don't understand anything."

"Maybe..." TK shrugged. "Maybe high school isn't for you, Davis."

Davis looked over at the blond, surprised plastered across his features. TK, who was always telling him that he could do it, who always had hope, was telling him to give up? No way. "What am I supposed to do, then?"

"You could just study for a G.E.D instead. You take the test, get a certificate, and then get a job doing something easy. Look, I'm not saying you should quit. I would love more than anything to have you walk with us a graduation, it's just... I don't want to see you kill yourself if you think it's too hard."

"It's not too hard," Davis growled, suddenly sounding offended. "I just missed the last four years that came before this one. If that hadn't happened I wouldn't have an issue."

TK frowned. "I'm just trying to help, Davis."

Davis stared at the other boy for a moment before seemingly shaking his head free of what could only be justified as a random burst of anger. "Right, I know. Sorry."

"Just do what you think is best," TK said before going on ahead. Davis' anger had upset him, feeling that he didn't deserve it, and not wanting to make it worse. Kari smiled at him, but he walked past her without a word. Kari frowned and then looked at Davis who finally caught. "Ready for class?"

"I guess," Davis said with a long exhale, gripping the strap of his shoulder bag.

Kari nodded. "All right, then." TK was already in his seat when the two came into the classroom. When Kari asked him what was wrong, the blond just shook his head.

"Okay class," began the teacher once the bell rang, "time for verbal review. Mister Otsuka, can you please tell us what the Treaty of Amity and Commerce was?"

Davis cursed inside his head, and a long moment of silence overtook the classroom before he said, "I-I dunno."

The teacher frowned. "Mister Otsuka, did you even do the reading from last night?"

"I did, but I don't remember," Davis groaned, rubbing his temples with two fingers.

"Didn't you take notes?"

"No," Davis said on a long breath outwards. "Sorry."

"Mister Otsuka, perhaps I didn't make myself clear at the beginning of class. You all are seniors now. When I give you out of class reading to do, I expect you to be taking notes. This is to prepare you for college. Your professors aren't going to just hand you the information. You need to know how to recognize the information on your own and be responsible for learning it." Davis took the lecture and simply fell quiet, waiting for the teacher to move on. There were a few more angry words that he didn't catch before the lesson proceeded. Kari watched him concernedly, but he took to looking at his desk for the rest of the class, and looking over at TK, he was staring off at the wall opposite Davis.

It was third period when the office secretary's voice came over the intercom. "Ichiro Otsuka to the guidance counselor's office, please," she said. "Ichiro Otsuka to the guidance counselor's office." Davis didn't even seem to notice at first, but the second time he heard his fake name, he started. Then, heaving a sigh, he grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder before heading out of the classroom and heading towards the office.

The door the counselor's office had been left open for Davis. The name Tsuda was printed in black against the painted white plate hanging on the wall just outside the office. She was sitting in chair at her desk, across from which was another chair and a bean bag lounge. She looked up when she heard him knock. Her brown eyes were warm and inviting, her smooth face framed by a black angled bob. "Come in, Ichiro." Davis edged into the office, closing the door behind him but not having the thought to take a seat. Though, after a moment, he caught the woman's gaze and realized she was waiting, so he put his bag down next to the chair across from hers and sat down. "How are you today?" she asked simply.

"Tired," Davis returned just as simply, looking wary of the woman's light tone, which was anything but what he had been expecting.

"It's only Monday," Tsuda said with a gentle laugh.

Davis' eyebrows knitted together, obviously not seeing the humor. "That doesn't matter."

"No? Weekends are a time for us to relax and rest, Ichiro, so that we can be refreshed on Monday. Has that not been working out for you?"

"Not really," Davis said, shaking his head and leaning back in the chair.

She tilted her head slightly. "And why is that?"

Davis swallowed slightly, scratching at the back of his head. "Because I'm having trouble keeping up with my work."

Tsuda nodded. "Is the work load too much for you?"

Davis nodded as well. "I..." he started, but then stopped himself. He looked at the floor, and then back at the woman. "Are you my guidance counselor?"

"Of course," she said with another smile. "Is that all right? We also have a male on staff if you would prefer talking to him."

"No, I just... Are you allowed to tell people what I tell you?"

"Only if your life is being threatened," the woman answered honestly.

"But otherwise?" Davis asked, watching her critically.

"Unless you give me permission, nothing you say leaves this room. I swear."

"Well..." Davis said, seemingly content with the answer. Maybe having someone to talk to about this that wasn't one of his friends would help. Maybe this was a good thing. "Well, I honestly... haven't been in school for a while."

"Oh?" She had no extreme reaction to this. "Did you take a year off between middle school and high school? I'll admit it's unorthodox, but not uncommon."

"No... The last time I went to school was four years ago. I've never been in high school until now."

Tsuda's brown eyes widened slightly. "Oh my..." She then spoke gently and carefully. "Ichiro, I understand that moving around in foster care can make going to school hard. Really I do. What I don't understand is why you didn't say anything?"

Again, Davis bit his lip as he contemplated whether to keep moving forward or not. But the truth was already spilling out. "I'm not in the foster system."

Tsuda did her best to remain comforting, but this was getting confusing. "But our records show that you've been in foster care for eight years."

Davis shook his head. "I've never been in foster care. I don't even know how it works."

"Ichiro, I don't understand what you're telling me. Are you homeless?"

"No," Davis said, shaking his head. "And my name's not Ichiro."

"Ichi-" The woman stopped, but then again, she didn't know what else to call him. "Ichiro, this isn't a game. I need you to tell me the truth."

"I am telling you the truth," Davis said quietly, now picking at the arm of the chair. "My name's Daisuke."

She frowned. "Daisuke what?"

"Motomiya."

"Daisuke Motomiya?" Tsuda thought deeply on this name at first. It sounded so familiar. Suddenly her eyes widnened and her hands came down on the desk. "That isn't funny!"

"I'm not trying to be funny," Davis murmured. "You can look up a picture. I'm not lying."

"That boy died tragically two years ago. For you to come in here pretending to be him is very cruel and very unwise," she warned.

"I'm not pretending!" Davis insisted, feeling ready to tear his own hair out, his hands gripping the arms of the chair he sat in. "Why would I do that?!"

"Because you want attention," she answered. "Foster children want people to pay attention to them. I understand. But this isn't the way to go about it, Ichiro. If you're struggling in school, we can get you help through tutors, but making up stories isn't going to get you anywhere."

Davis opened his mouth to argue, but then exhaled deeply and wrapped his arms around himself, casting his eyes down. "I should have known you wouldn't believe me. But I'm telling the truth."

"Ichiro, you haven't given me a reason to believe you. What does Daisuke Motomiya have to gain by coming back from the dead?"

"I didn't die," Davis groaned, running his hands up through his hair, unable to keep still. "I was kidnapped. My parents declared me dead after two years."

"Why didn't you go to the police?"

"Because they wouldn't believe me if I told them where I've been. You won't, either."

"And just where have you been, exactly?"

"...The Digital World," Davis said after a short pause.

Tsuda blinked. "Excuse me?"

"The Digital World," Davis repeated, looking the guidance counselor square in the eye, his own widening a bit. "We were attacked by creatures from the Digital World. In August, 1999. No one remembers it, but the world they came from... I was there."

Tusda just stared at the boy acorss from her in disbelief. She had no idea what to say. After many long minutes of silence, she sighed and said, "I think that's enough for today, Ichiro."

"Daisuke!" the boy insisted, his voice shaky, his knuckles turning white from where he gripped the chair. "It's Daisuke!"

The woman looked at him firmly. "Ichiro, please..."

Davis felt his eyes getting dry as he stared at the woman, his throat constricting, his heart starting to pound in his chest. "It's Daisuke..." he repeated quietly.

The woman shook her head. "No, Ichiro, you need to leave now."

Davis suddenly felt faint, and he stared at the woman unblinkingly for a moment before forcing his eyes closed, nodding and getting up from his chair. "Alright."

"Davis, can you come here, please?" Tai called from the kitchen where he sat at the table.

Davis looked up from where he sat in the living room. Abandoning a stack of papers, he got up off of the couch and came to stand in the kitchen doorway. "What is it?" he asked.

"You know that P.O. box we set up for you? Well, I'm looking over the letters from the last few weeks that your school sent. Apparently you're having some problems."

"O-oh," Davis stammered, biting his lip. "Uh... yeah."

"This one says you're grades are slipping. Most even failing. This one says you aren't paying attention in class. Another letter is from your guidance counselor who says you might have delusions based on a need for attention. I have one here from the vice principal that says you've been getting into fights and apparently have anger issues." Taichi looked up at the boy. "What is going on with you?"

Davis' eyes seemed to go wide at the mention of the third letter, and, as if he hadn't heard anything else Tai had said, he shouted, "She said she wouldn't tell anyone!"

"Davis, this is serious! She thinks you might be a danger to people! These so-called delusions coupled with your unstable temper is a recipe for getting to big trouble! You could seriously be labeled a psychopath. Now what is up with you?"

Davis stared at the other boy for a moment, before breathing out heavily and shaking his head, slowly, eyes locked on Tai. "I don't know," he murmured.

Taichi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You aren't sleeping. You work out all the time. You stopped eating food for breakfast and just drink those weird shakes. You're irritable even here at home sometimes. Davis, you know I want to help you, but you keep putting all this distance between us and I don't know what to do."

Davis continued to stare, even as he ran his fingers up into his hair, tugging on the spiked, brown locks and biting his lip. "What if I'm going crazy?" he asked quietly.

Taichi's own brown eyes watched the boy critically. "I can think of a few other things that are more likely."

"L-like what?" Davis asked.

"Drugs, for one."

"Drugs?" Davis asked, looking surprised. "I-I'm not on drugs."

"No? Because I was offered more than once while out on that field by myself. Some guy comes walking by and sees you all alone out there. He comes up and offers you a little something that will help you stay focused and be able to go longer."

Davis inhaled deeply, his breath shaking audibly as he did. "No," he said.

"You on steroids?"

"N-no."

"Davis..."

"No!" Davis snapped, his hands tightening into fists. "I'm not!"

"So in the two months you've been home, your muscles, speed, or agility haven't started to go away? You haven't decided that your soccer skills are the only thing worth having, so you decide to do whatever it takes to keep them?"

Davis bit his lip, shaking his head violently. "No... No, it wouldn't matter. Because... because they're going to kick me off the team. They're going to kick me off because my grades are bad. Because I've been gone for four years. Because I'm crazy and she won't believe me..."

"Davis," Taichi sighed again. "Why didn't you ask us for help?"

"I don't need help!" Davis snapped. A cold sweat had broken out on his forehead and was now running down his face and neck.

Taichi frowned. Davis was acting strangely and he didn't like it. "We've done everything we can to make a new life for you here, Davis, but you aren't making it easy. You don't seem to be trying at anything except soccer, but that won't last you long if you keep this up."

"Taichi..." the boy said, one of his fists unclenching just long enough for him to put his hand on his chest and tug on the front of his own shirt. "Taichi, I can't breathe."

The older boy immediately jumped up from his seat. "Shit..." Joe had warned him about this, so of course he did the stupid thing and pushed the poor boy into another panic attack. "Okay... Okay... Calm down," he said gently. Taichi started to lead Davis over to the couch. "Deep breath in and let it out slowly. Take it easy. Calm down."

"Taichi..." Davis repeated. He felt dizzy and lightheaded now, and it echoed in his voice. "Taichi, I can't breathe..." He took deep gulps of air, trying to catch his breath, but it didn't seem to help.

"I know. Don't... Don't breathe too fast. Slow breaths, Davis. Slow." He helped sit the boy on the couch and sat next to him, trying desperately to figure out what to do. He could call Joe, but Tai didn't want to leave Davis unattended. "It'll be okay. Try breathing in throught your nose and out through your mouth."

Davis did as he was told, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth, but his breaths remained shaky and he still felt unable to catch his breath. "Taichi," he gasped, one hand still pulling at his shirt as the other aimlessly tried to touch the other boy, Davis staring straight ahead instead of looking at Tai to see where he was. "I'm going crazy..."

Tai grabbed Davis' wrist. "No you're not! Davis, you're going to be fine! Just... Just..." Only he didn't know what to do. Taichi felt like a kid again, when Kari passed out in the park. He didn't know what to do then either. "Just breathe!"

"I can't breathe..." Davis continued to try and breathe deeply, but he was too lightheaded. With another deep breath inward, he suddenly lost his breath, and the boy collapsed, falling sideways into Tai, his eyes sliding shut and his consciousness leaving him, passed out.

"Daisuke? Daisuke! Daisuke!" Taichi grabbed the boy, trying to wake him up, but failed. "Oh... this is so not good," he moaned. With a soft grunt, he lifted the teenager up and carried him to the bedroom, not the sleeping bag, but the real bed. Once Davis was tucked in, he went to go call Joe.

When Davis' eyes opened again, he was so out of sorts that his first conscious thought led him to believe that he hadn't even missed a second. He thought he was still talking to Taichi, and his mouth started to form words to respond to the other boy, only to freeze confusedly when he realized he couldn't recall the last thing that had been said. Closing his eyes and then shaking his head, he listened, hoping to catch the other boy's words. But instead of Taichi's voice, he heard a hissing noise in his ear, one that he heard for a moment, and then it was gone. And then again, and then gone. His eyes opened again, and as his eyes began to focus, he realized he wasn't on the couch anymore. "Where..."

"You gave Taichi quite a scare," said Joe's voice from beside the boy.

"What? What happened?" Davis asked.

"According to Taichi's account of the event, you had a severe panic attack and collapsed." The hissing sound Davis heard was the blood pressure cuff on his arm, which Joe was squeezing the pump on. "And according to these readings, it was quite a doozy. Have you been taking that medication I prescribed for you?"

"I was..." Davis said. He was quiet for a moment, but then he admitted, "But I've forgotten recently."

Joe nodded. "That happens, but it's really important that you stay on top of it. This is what happens when you stop taking your medication. All your symptoms like to come back full force."

"I don't like being on medication..." Davis murmured, his hands curling slowly into fists at his sides.

"I know, Davis, but we talked about this. Weren't you feeling less anxious while taking it?"

"I don't know," Davis said, shaking his head a bit, trying to clear his vision. When his eyes opened again, he could see the blue-haired man next to him, and he could feel a pain gently pulsing at his eyes, they themselves turned red.

"You didn't have anymore panic attacks while you were on the medication, did you?"

"N-no..."

Joe gave a sympathetic smile. "Then that means they were working. Davis, you must have felt better on them, even without liking them."

"I still don't like them," Davis huffed, as he tried to sit up, only to find that his head was still spinning a little and lay back again. "I don't like it here anymore."

Joe removed the pressure cuff and pulled out his stethescope. "Here? What do you mean?"

"The real world," Davis said quietly.

Joe nodded. "It must be hard." He breathed on the diaphragm to get it warm before placing it on Davis' chest.

Davis still flinched a little when it met his skin. His heartbeat was lethargic and paced strangely, but his heart-rate was no long accelerated. "Everyone except you guys thinks I'm dead," he added.

Joe nodded again. "It must be lonely." He moved the metal disk across Davis' chest, listening to both his lungs and heart.

"I want to go back," Davis murmured, breathing in deeply and then exhaling heavily, his chest feeling choked up.

Joe was silent. He put the stethoscope back in his bag and began to feel around Davis' stomach. "I'm not so sure you mean that."

"Why wouldn't I?" Davis breathed, staring at the ceiling.

"You worked to hard to get out of there," Joe said. "People here might think you're dead, but no one is torturing you."

Davis was quiet for a while at that, swallowing hard and closing his eyes. "I don't know," he finally murmured, before falling quiet for the rest of the examination.

In the end, Joe said that Davis hadn't suffered any real damage from the panic attack. He advised the boy to go back on medication and wrote out another three months of prescriptions. Before leaving, he met with Tai in the hall just outside the bedroom. "He's not ready for this," Joe said.

"What?"

"School, social life, any of it. He's not ready."

"What else is he supposed to do?"

"Davis can get a job. Be a grocery boy or something. I sincerely believe he needs to stay in here and rest for a few days before going back out, but school isn't working for him."

"Joe, he really wanted this..."

"I know Tai, but it could kill him. If he could stay on his meds, get a quiet job, and only play soccer at leisure, he might turn out all right."

Davis was listening from inside the bedroom, still laying on his back and staring at the ceiling. Only play soccer at leisure... Not ready for a social life... school could kill him. Those things stood out in his mind, and he closed his eyes again, sighing gently. "Davis?" Chibimon had snuck his way past the two older boys and was now creeping up along the bed. "Davis, can I come up?"

Davis opened one eye, before sitting up slightly, rolling onto his side so he could pick Chibimon up off the floor, before rolling onto his back again and placing the Digimon down on his stomach. "Hey, Chibimon," he greeted quietly.

Chibimon sat on his bottom, little paw-like feet stuck out in front of him. "Tai said you passed out."

"I did," Davis said, nodding a bit. "I had a panic attack and fainted."

"He called Joe right after it happened. He took a bullet train to get here." Chibimon looked at his own feet and wiggled them. "Are you sick?"

"Nah," Davis said, shaking his head. "I just got upset, that's all."

"You seem to be getting upset a lot..."

"Yeah, I guess I am..." Davis murmured.

"Are you gonna break?" Chibimon asked quietly.

"I hope not, Chibimon," Davis said, reaching up and gently petting back his Digimon's ears. "I hope not."


	25. Snapped

Tai kept Davis at home for another week. He helped the kid get back on his medication and made sure he got plenty of sleep. Davis' irritability seemed to have gone down drastically and Tai hoped that meant he was ready to go back to school. This morning he'd woken Davis up, made him a real breakfast, and even packed him a lunch. "You've been out with the flu," Tai told the boy on his way out. "TK and Kari will meet you at school, okay?"

"Alright," Davis said, nodding as he fiddled with his jacket. He'd insisted on the chance to go back to school. He wanted to show Tai that he was alright, that he could manage this. Everything had been going poorly, but Davis was never one to give up. As he stepped out the door, he cast the other brunet a smile over his shoulder. "Thanks, Taichi."

"Anytime," Tai replied with a nod and smile of his own. TK was talking to Kari when he saw look of surprise on her face. He looked over his shoulder to see Davis jogging up the street to meet with them at the gate.

"Oh man..." Not only were TK and Kari there, but so was Nancy and the Yagamis. TK excused himself quickly so he could run up to Davis. "We thought you were sick!"

"I was, but now I'm okay," Davis said, stopping and looking confused. "Why, something wrong?"

"We just..." TK looked back at all the parents with their kids in the courtyard. "Didn't think you'd want to come today."

"What's today?" Davis asked, raising an eyebrow, obviously having lost track after his week spent at home.

TK seemed reluctant to answer. "It's Parents Day."

Davis opened his mouth again, but his face seemed to fall. "Oh..."

"None of the teachers have seen you yet. You could still go back home," TK suggested.

"No, I... I'll be okay," Davis said, offering TK a determined grin. "Really. I've been okay the past week, I think I can make it. If I back down now, I'll never want to go back."

TK looked hesitant at first, but he eventually grinned and nodded. "All right. Sounds good, man."

Davis nodded, following the blond back into the courtyard. Because he'd never gone over to TK or Kari's houses or met their parents, the Yagamis and TK's mother didn't recognize him and were introduced to him by his alias. They all then proceeded inside as the bell began to ring, and Davis soon found himself in their packed homeroom class, full of kids talking to their parents, parents introducing themselves to each other, and more chatter than the kids themselves had ever produced, even as loud as they usually were. Davis shuffled over to his desk, sitting down and shuffling through his bag, trying to find something that would keep him entertained until class started aside from just watching the parents. A shadow loomed over Davis while he was looking through his backpack. It wasn't a passing student, which was made clear by the hands coming to rest on the desk. "Hey Foster," the voice sneered.

Davis heard the voice and grit his teeth slightly, but let out a breath, trying to keep himself calm. "What do you want?"

"Where your parents at? Does the government not pay them enough to come to Parent's Day?" Inouye leaned down to get into Davis' face. "Or did they not come because they aren't your real folks?"

Davis' eyes narrowed, and he finally looked at the other boy when Inouye ducked in close. "Back off," Davis growled lowly.

"Or what? Are you gonna go cryin' to your mommy?" Inouye smirked. "Oh wait, that's right. You don't have one, do ya, Foster?"

Davis stood up, his hands curling into fists. His face was starting to flush with anger and he could feel rage bubbling beneath his skin. "Shut up!" he shouted, catching the attention of most everyone in the class, instantly putting all eyes on them.

Conveniently enough, Inouye's parents weren't there either. Which could have been the source of his bitterness. "TK, what's going on?" Nancy whispered to her son.

All the boy could do was shake his head. "Oh no... Stay cool, Ichiro."

"What is going on here?" the teacher asked as he approached the pair of students.

"Foster here is about to start crying," Inouye said, not afraid to be a bully even in front of the teacher and parents. "His parents couldn't come because his dad is passed out in his own sick somewhere and his mom is busy fucking Johns." Davis snapped. As soon as those words had come out of Inouye's mouth, Davis had grabbed his own chair by the back, lifting it up with a loud shout and cracking the other boy across the head with it, the chair flying out of his hands after Inouye fell to the ground with a loud thud. The chair slid across the floor and hit the wall with a loud clang, and Davis was left staring down at Inouye, breathing hard, his face red and sweat dripping down the back of his neck.

There were a lot of screams from mothers who grabbed their children around the shoulders and ran them from the room, TK and Kari included. Many of the fathers had bolted up from their seats and made a ring around Davis, ready to stop him if he made another move to attack. Meanwhile, Inouye was out cold on the ground, blood pooling from the side of his head where the chair had split his temple open. The teacher immediately ran to his desk and pressed the call help button. "Take it easy, son," one man said and took a step forward.

"Don't touch me!" Davis shouted, even though the man had made no move to. He was shaking, his hands curled back into fists, his eyes wide and wild.

"Move! Move!" Two campus security gaurds came bursting into the room, pushed their way through the crowd, and immediately tackled Davis to the floor. "Stay down, kid! Don't make it worse!" Davis cried out in surprise as he hit the floor, a flash of white going across his vision. He at once began to writhe and growl and claw at the floor, trying to get out from under the two guards. "Get the cuffs on him!"

"Someone call the paramedics! That boy needs medical attention now!" A pair of handcuffs were snapped onto Davis' wrists, trapping his hands behind his back. Both guards stood and kept a close eye on him, tazers ready. Davis squirmed about on the floor, arms tugging at the handcuffs as hard as he could, trying to break free. There was something almost animalistic in the way he was acting, a rage that had been implanted by the dark device that had been making its mark on him for years.

"Take him down!" one of the guards shouted. The other complied by firing his tazer gun. A steady volt of electricity was fed into Davis' body until the boy finally passed out. Sure that he was out for good, the guards hoisted him up and dragged him out of the room. The proper authorities had already been called. When Davis woke up again, he'd been in a cold, empty cell.

Brown eyes fluttered open, but then snapped to alertness when he realized where he was. The boy looked around quickly, from the three blank walls, one of which he sat against, to the line of bars that made up the fourth. He gasped, getting on his knees and shuffling over to the bars, trying to look down the dark hallways. "Did you take me back!?" he suddenly called, eyes wide and voice almost hopeful in its tone.

"Quiet in there!" a deep voice answered. A voice far too deep to be who Davis was hoping for. Davis' expression fell, and he sighed, slumping back against the wall and falling quiet, even as his wide eyes continued to watch the hallway, as if the voice had just been in his mind and any second familiar footsteps would round the corner.

No one came for a long time, except guard to bring him food. Peanut butter and jelly and water. But that was it. After three days of sitting alone in the cell, a familiar face finally came to see him. Taichi came down the hall escorted by a guard. He'd been searched before coming in, so there was no way he'd be getting Davis out. Once the man left, Taichi looked at the boy in the cell, seeing only a stranger. "What did you do?" he asked quietly.

Davis stared at the ground between his knees, which were pulled up to his chest. He was silent for a long time, not wanting to look at his idol and tell him that he'd let him down in every way. But after the air was dead for the longest time, he finally swallowed and murmured, "I hit one of my classmates over the head with a chair."

Taichi shook his head violently and grabbed the bars of the cell. "What did you do, Davis?!"

Davis looked up at Tai, breathing out heavily. "Th-... that's it."

"That kid had to have thirty stitches! He was almost in a coma! He could have brain damage, Davis!" Taichi shouted. "It's all over the news! Do you know how badly you've screwed up here?!" Davis just looked down again, falling quiet. "Kari is terrified of you! TK isn't allowed near you! Cody and Yolei don't know who you are anymore! And quite frankly...!" Taichi sighed heavily. "Neither do I. We can't help you anymore, Davis. They can't find your parents, so now you're a burden of the system. You're going to go to trial with a government appointed lawyer. They're trying to take into account the fact your a foster kid and the things Inouye said to you, but it still doesn't look good. The best I can do is try to get custody of you as a cousin if you don't get jail time. But Davis... That's it. Once you serve whatever they give you... I'm done."

"Don't bother," Davis said, gritting his teeth. His hands rubbed at each other, his sweaty palms making quiet sticking and unsticking sounds in the otherwise quiet cell. "I'm leaving. I'm going back, anyway."

Taichi just nodded silently. "If that's what you want to do, I won't stop you. Here... I brought something for you." Taichi slipped his school bag off his shoulder and began digging around inside. He then pulled out the same bag Davis had been using to carry the Digimon in. The bag squirmed slightly. "I told the police these were stuffed animals, and your devices were hand-held games. I told them it was all you had left from your real parents. They agreed to let you keep them."

Davis' eyes widened, and be bit his lip after a moment. "I..." he started. "I don't think Chibimon will want to come with me. He hated the citadel. And Pinamon could get killed. I can't make them go back."

"Davis!" Chibimon's little voice squeaked from inside the bag. "I want to be with you! No matter where you go!"

Taichi smiled weakly. "He insisted."

"And I'll be okay! Really! I wanna come!" Pinamon's voice chimed.

"Oh..." Davis murmured, managing a strange, weak smile. "Thanks..." He inched over to the bars, accepting the bag. He looked down, and then back up at the other brunet. "I'm sorry I let you down, Taichi."

The young man was quiet for a few moments. His brown eyes looked down at the boy in the cell. Studying him. But then those eyes softened as he kneeled down in front of the other. "Davis..." Taichi reached through the bars and touched the boy's face. "I... I'm not mad. I don't want to be mad at you. Deep down, I know you tried the best you could. If it had been me, I don't think I could have gotten as far as you did. You came out of an impossible situation. Yes, you screwed up, but as far as I'm concerned, it's not your fault. If you decide to go back there, well... I would understand. Just know I still love you, Daisuke. I'm always gonna."

Davis leaned his face into that hand, his eyes closing. "Taichi... I l-love you t-..." he started, only for his throat to close up and he to take a deep breath. "T-..." But the last word didn't come. Instead, his eyes squeezed shut, and he made a pathetic noise as tears he'd been fighting since his very first day back in the real world began to slip down his face.

Taichi felt his heart break. He reached both arms through the bars and wrapped them around Davis the best he could. He embraced the boy through the bars, hushing him gently. "I know... I know... You'll be okay."

"I-I'm sorry, Taichi," Davis gasped through tears, trying to lay his head against his idol, but only being able to rest it on the bars that separated them. "I'm sorry..."

"I know... It's okay..." Taichi began to pet Davis' hair. "It's not your fault. You tried. It's not your fault."

Tears that might have soaked Taichi's shirt if Davis had opened up before instead fell on the cell floor. "You don't want anything to do with me anymore..." he whined quietly, shivering in the other brunet's arms.

"No, no, that isn't true. I was angry when I said that. I shouldn't have." Taichi wished so much he could hold Davis right now, when the boy needed it most. "I would never kick you out, ever. Even if you were a worthless, lazy bum. I will always be here for you, Daisuke. If you get tired of the Digital World again and come back here, you come straight to me. I'll have a bed waiting for you. I swear."

"Th-thank you, Taichi..." Davis murmured, finally opening his tear-glazed eyes to look at Taichi again. "But I don't think the real world will want me back."

"Even if it doesn't..." Taichi wiped the tears from Davis' eyes. "I will."

"You're the best friend I've ever had, Taichi..." Davis murmured, the tears welling up even as Tai wiped them away. "One day I'll get yours back for you. I'll come back just to bring him home. I-I promise."

Taichi nodded and smiled. "I'll look forward to it."

"Mister Yagami," came the guard's voice. He'd been there a few minutes earlier, but when he saw brotherly exchange going on, he left them alone. But he couldn't anymore. "I'm sorry. Your time is up."

Davis swallowed dryly, not wanting Taichi to go. He wanted to go back to the apartment with him and talk, apologize, and earn back his keep. But he realized now that he'd messed all of that up for himself. "I-I'll miss you," he managed to choke out.

"Hey, hey, hey... This isn't the end. I'll come see you. Where-ever they send you, I'll visit as often as I can. I promise. Cross my heart."

"Mister Yagami..."

"I know, all right?" Taichi sighed. "Remember what I told you, Daisuke," he said as he started to get up. "I meant every word."

"Th-thank you," Davis said, managing a weak smile. He watched as Taichi was led away, brown eyes following him until he'd turned the corner at the end of the hall. He sat in silence for a moment before leaning his head against the bars of his cell, and tears once again began to fall from his plastered open eyes.


	26. Colors

It was a hot, sticky morning, probably the warmest morning all spring. It was clear from the faces of the people who sat in high wooden seats, fanning themselves with their hands and dressed in high collared suits, that they did not want to be there nor be bothered with the case that had been brought to the courtroom that morning. Hot sunlight filtered in through the windows, highlighting the dust that drifted far too lazily through the room for the tense atmosphere that gripped everything else. Davis was seated behind one of the two tables that were seated before those particularly annoyed looking jurors and judge, once more handcuffed so he could cause no harm to any of the countless people that sat behind him, that he kept his back to, who's utter silence made him hang his head and stare at his feet. "Before we continue any further," the judge began, sweating in his black robes, "how is Ichiro Otsuka going to plead?" Everyone in the room hoped Davis would be smart and plead guilty to an attack he was obviously at fault for. If he did, no one would have to sit through lawyers, attornies, evidence, testimonials, and who knows what else for a few hours.

Sweat rolled down Davis' face, from his forehead down his jaw, as he quietly murmured, "My name's not Ichiro..."

"Guilty," his attorney said, already knowing the answer. "However..." He glanced at the boy and then back at the judge. "We would like to plead insanity."

"Objection!" the lawyer called from the other table, having slammed his hands down and jumped to his feet. "He's trying to get his client out the easy way! Ichiro Otsuka has a history of attacking my client on at least two occassions. A plea of insanity is a joke! Ichiro Otsuka had probably been waiting for the chance to attack my client again!"

"Sustained," said the judge, "but you know better than to throw accussations around like that. Counselor, on what grounds are you entering this insanity plea?"

"We have evidence to support it based on my client's medical history and affinity towards delusion recorded in counseling sessions from the school he attended," the lawyer stated, producing the papers. The latter part of his statement made Davis grit his teeth, but he continued to keep silence.

The judge looked at both men and then motioned with his hand. "Approach, and present the evidence to me." The judge took the papers from Davis' attorney and began reading through them. Aged brown eyes looked at the lawyer over his glasses. "Were you aware of these sessions?"

"Yes, your honor, but-"

"Then you know that all this documentation is more than enough proof of the boy's mental instability. Return to your clients."

"She said she wouldn't tell..." Davis murmured. "She said she wouldn't tell!"

"Please be quiet," his attorney pleaded as he came back to the table.

The gavel was brought down on its panel. "Control your client!" he said firmly. "One more word out of you, young man, and you'll be removed from my court room." The judge leaned forward, hands folded in front of him. "Given the evidence, I find the offender, Ichiro Otsuka, guilty by plea of insanity. He will be sent to the Yamazaki Institution where he will receive the medication and therapy he needs for a time until he is deemed fit to rejoin society." Again the gavel was brought down to finalize the decision.

One month saw Davis' limit in the insanity ward. At first, he hadn't taken very well to the nearly empty room, the plain white clothing, and especially not the fact that his goggles were confiscated. He hated the therapy they tried to give him and he clammed up when people tried to talk to him, especially women. Eventually, he was assigned to a sort of color therapy where he was told to get his feelings out through art, though he was given charcoals and pastels rather than sharpened colored pencils. He took well to it, but even in the state he was in, boredom weighed far too heavily on his mind and the confines he was kept to, stuck inside this one place, was only making matters worse. Still, he had found some sort of comfort in the art, and though he still refused to talk, he spent a lot of time drawing and coloring, completed pictures now littering the floor. Digimon and people he knew, especially Taichi and the Kaiser. All with his real name scribbled messily at the bottom, sometimes several times over. "I don't know why you want this one."

"I find him interesting."

"He hasn't spoken to anyone since he got here."

"Well maybe that's because no one was listening." The lock on Davis' door was released and a man stepped inside. He was new to the insitution, and the country. The man was tall, maybe 5'11", with wavy blond hair and green eyes. His white coat was left open, showing his dark slacks and pale yellow shirt underneath. "Hello," he said once the door had been closed again. In one hand was a notebook, in the other was a tool box, and under his left arm was a small canvas. "My name is Dr. Noland Underwood." His Japanese was surprisingly good. "What can I call you?" Davis glanced up, frowning a little bit. He gestured idly to the signatures on his drawings, before going back to concentrating on his pad. He was leaning back against the wall with his knees drawn to his chest, the pad propped up against them, almost completely covering his face. The man tilted his head curiously at first, but then he crouched down to pick up one of the drawings. "Daisuke? I like that name. It means 'great help,' right?"

Davis looked up, but then back at his drawing. "I didn't know that," he murmured quietly.

He nodded. "Yup. Your name has two parts. Dai, the prefix, means big, while suke, the suffix, means help. Our names usually reflect our greatest virtues, so I bet you like to help people. Am I right, Daisuke?"

Again, the doctor's words caught enough of Davis' attention to make him glance up, this time his gaze lasting longer before he went back to his work. "I guess so, yeah."

Noland laughed. "Unfortunately, my name means famous or noble. I'm hardly famous, but I suppose I have noble intentions in the acts I perform. Who can really say." Since Davis wasn't using the chair provided in the room, the doctor took to sitting in it instead. He set up the canvas, picked up one of the many large drawing pads on the floor, setting it on the canvas, and then placed the tool box on the floor. Before getting into the session, he wanted to get Davis feeling more comfortable. Picking up two drawings, he said, "These are very good. You have some real talent." Noland held up a sketch of Tai. "Is this your brother?"

"I don't have a brother," Davis said, shaking his head. "He's my friend." Finally, he found himself too distracted from his work to continue it, and propped his drawing pad up against the wall, revealing a charcoal only drawing of Chibimon. He then wiped his sooty fingers on the walls, which were becoming just as much a mess of smudged on color as the papers on the floor were.

"I see. What's his name?"

"Taichi," Davis responded, leaving more fingerprints and long strokes on the wall until his hands were clean.

Noland laughed again. "You and your friend have similar names. Taichi means 'big one.' Ta, the prefix, means big. Ichi obviously means one. Big help and Big one. You two must be quite the pair. You even sound like super heroes almost."

"I'd be a pretty crummy super hero," Davis said as he stood up, and began to make his way over to where the man sat, stepping around the pictures on the floor as if he'd memorized where they'd been placed.

"Not all of us are cut out for the job," Noland said with a nod. "And this one?" he asked in holding up a drawing of the Kaiser. "She's very pretty, and you seem to draw her a lot. Is she someone special?"

Davis actually cracked a small smile, putting his hand over his mouth as he snickered, "He's a boy."

"Oh?" The man looked again at the drawing. "Well, I suppose it is. Does he have a name, then?"

"He's just... the Kaiser," Davis said, his hand falling away and folding behind his back.

Instead of frowning or giving a negative reaction, the doctor seemed genuinely interested. "A German emperor? Seems a little young, doesn't he?"

"Apparently not. He's been doing it for almost five years," Davis answered, reaching towards the picture to try and take it back from the man.

Noland handed the picture over willingly. "Has he now? Well, no offense to your friend, but Germany hasn't had a Kaiser since Wilhelm II in 1918."

"Not in Germany," Davis said, shaking his head. "In the Digital World."

He was quiet for a few seconds, contemplating his next words. "May I ask you a question, Daisuke?"

"Sure, I guess," Davis said, looking down at the picture he now held in his hands intently.

"Is the Kaiser an imaginary friend?"

"Imaginary?" Davis asked, looking up with a frown. "No, of course not. I haven't had one of those since I was a little kid."

"I didn't think so. You're far too old for imaginary friends." The doctor smiled. "Would you mind humoring me and participating in a little session, Daisuke? You can tell me more about the Kaiser and the Digital World while we work. Will you do that?" Davis looked wary, but in reality, he really did want to talk about those things. So after a rather long time of staring at the man, he gave a small nod. "Great!" The man opened the tool box revealing it to be full of small plastic cups, tubes of paint, and paint brushes. "It's really easy, actually. First, tell me how you feel or what you think of when I say the color red?"

"Strawberries," Davis answered.

The doctor smiled. "Good." He handed a cup he'd filled with red paint and a brush to Davis. "Paint something using only red on the canvas there." Once Davis got started, Noland went back to the promised subject. "Where did you meet the Kaiser?"

"In the Digital World," Davis said matter-of-factly, as he swirled the brush around in the cup and then began to paint.

The doctor began writing in his notebook. "Where is the Digital World, exactly?"

"Who knows?" Davis asked back, watching his own hand move. "It's parallel to our world. In the internet and every electronic device, but yet its got its own nature and not everything looks electronic."

Noland tapped his pen against his chin. "You mean cyber space?"

"Kind've, I guess," Davis said with a shrug. "I never really thought about it too much."

"Fair enough. How do you get to the Digital World?"

"Through a Digital Gate. We used to go through a computer."

Green eyes looked up. "We?"

"My friends and I," Davis said, gesturing to the pictures again. One was a collection of all of the DigiDestined in a line on a landscape canvas.

"Oh my. You had quite a few friends, didn't you? Would you tell me their names, too?"

Davis looked down at the picture, and listed the children off in order from right to left. "Taichi, Yamato, Sora, Izzy, Mimi, Joe, TK, Kari, Yolei, and Cody." He'd been excluded from the picture.

Noland nodded. "You're very lucky, Daisuke, to have so many friends, but... Why aren't you with them in this picture?"

"Because that picture is of them three years ago," Davis explained. "And I wasn't with them then."

"Oh?" He wrote in his notebook some more. "Where were you?"

"The Digital World," Davis said. "The Kaiser was keeping me there."

"Hmm... I see..." Noland looked up from what he was writing. "May I see what you painted, Daisuke?" Davis turned the canvas around, revealing a line painting of Flamedramon, his hands aflame and his body poised to fight.

"Wow, that's impressive," Noland said honestly. "Do you have a title for it?"

"Fire of Courage," Davis said, as he tore the picture from the pad and placed it on the floor with the rest, making sure it was on top of the others so it could dry.

Noland frowned. "That's no place for your painting, Daisuke." He reached into the tool box and pulled out a ring of masking tape, which he used to hang the painting on the wall. "There, isn't that better?"

Davis looked curiously at the man as he hung the painting on the wall. "I don't want it to run," he murmured.

"Oh! Of course." Noland took the painting down and laid it on the bed. "We'll let it dry there and then put it up later, all right?"

Davis nodded, leaning back in the chair. "Yeah, that's okay. Just let it dry."

The doctor nodded as well and sat back down. "Now, tell me how you feel or what you think of when I say the color blue?"

"Happy," Davis answered strangely, as he gestured over to the charcoal drawing he'd abandoned to talk to the doctor. "Because it reminds me of Chibimon."

"I see." He wrote in the notebook again, and also gave Davis a new brush with a cup of blue paint. "Paint something in blue for me, Daisuke. While you do, tell me about Chibimon. Is he a character you made up?"

Davis seemed to frown when the doctor again implied that he was making things up, but turned to the canvas and started to paint anyway, to keep himself calm. "No, he's my partner."

"I'm sorry," the doctor apologized. "You just have such a wonderful imagination. I want to get the real from the fantasy established. Am I right to assume Chibimon comes from the Digital World?"

"Yeah," Davis said, nodding. "I met him there a really long time ago and he hasn't left my side since."

"May I ask where Chibimon is now?" Davis glanced at the doctor, but then shook his head and went back to his painting, blue lightning streaking across the top. Noland seemed disappointed, but he wouldn't push. "Can Chibimon talk?"

"Yeah, they all can," Davis said. "He's got a really high pitched voice, but it gets deeper hen he turns into Flamedramon," he said, gesturing with his free hand at the red painting drying on the bed.

So many questions. "Daisuke, who is they? Who is Flamedramon? How does Chibimon turn into him?"

"They is the Digimon. Flamedramon is the Fire of Courge. And Chibimon turns into him with the Digimental of Courage." It seemed surreal to him how all of this seemed to simple to him, and yet trying to explain it to someone else was like speaking a totally different language. "And with the Digimental of Friendship, he turns into Raidramon," he said, turning the canvas around to reveal the blue painting.

"Fascinating..." the doctor breathed. "Daisuke, I would dare to say you have lived more in your young life so far than any man in his prime has."

Daisuke shrugged his shoulders as he tore off the picture of Raidramon and stood to go put it on the bed next to the one of Flamedramon. "There's other kids that have been doing this a lot longer than I have," he said.

Noland nodded. "I'm sure, but you are my only source right now. Now for another one. How do you feel or what do you think of when I say the color purple? Or violet, if you prefer."

Davis swallowed dryly then, looking over his shoulder at the doctor. "I think of the Kaiser."

The doctor tilted his head slightly. "Because the Kaiser is royalty?"

"His hair is indigo," Davis explained. "And so are his eyes."

"I see." A new brush and purple paint. "I think you know what to do with these. Daisuke, may I ask what your relationship with the Kaiser is? Are you enemies, friends, acquaintences?"

Davis sat down in the chair, taking the cup of paint and brush, but at first not making any move to start painting. "I... I dunno," he sighed after a second as he dipped the brush in the paint. "It's complicated."

More notes. "Would you like to talk about something else?"

"Please," Davis murmured as he finally touched the paintbrush to the canvas and began his next picture.

The man smiled. "No problem. Tell me, Daisuke, do you have a favorite sport? You look like an active young man."

"Soccer," Davis said. "But I won't be able to play anymore."

"Why? Did you get injured?"

"No... I'm going to go back to the Digital World, and there's no soccer balls or field there."

Noland stopped writing at that point and really looked at Davis. "You're going back? When did you decide this?"

"When I got arrested and called crazy," Davis said, his own eyes not moving from his painting. "The real world doesn't want me."

"Daisuke... We've all felt like that at some point, but there's always somebody somewhere who wants us. What about Taichi?"

"I'm a burden on Taichi," Davis murmured.

"Did he say that?"

"No, but I can feel it," Davis said, turning to look at the man. "He's a college student. He had too much to worry about trying to take care of me, too."

The man seemed a little saddened. "What about your parents?"

"I don't know where they are," Davis said, shaking his head. "And they already buried an empty grave for me. I can't show up at their new place like this."

"Why not? Don't you think they'd be happy to see you?"

"Look at me," Davis sighed, dragging the paintbrush across the canvas. "I'm covered in scars that I didn't have when I left. They don't want to see that."

"Daisuke, I'm a father. If my child had been missing for as long as you have, I wouldn't care what he looked like when he came home. I would only care that he came home at all."

Davis shook his head. "They've moved on without me. I've got a bigger purpose now, anyway. I need to do my best to help the Digital World."

Noland nodded. "If that's your decision, then that's what you'll do. May I see what you painted, Daisuke?" Davis turned the painting around. It was another picture of the Kaiser, but this time, from the back. His hair was undone from its usual ponytail, and reflected in its purple surface, the night sky, which had also been painted above him. Green eyes looked at the painting for a few minutes before he said anything. "It's quite beautiful," the man said.

"To answer your question..." Davis murmured. "I was his lover for a long time. Unknowingly."

"He raped you," the doctor said. "Daisuke, will you look at me?"

Davis looked over at the doctor. He thought he should explain, but he was sure it would just lead to more confusion than it was worth. "Yes?"

"Going back to a person who abused you is an unwise desicion, Daisuke," the man said seriously. "I've only known you for a short time, but I quite like you. I'd hate to see you get hurt again. Don't you think there's a better way?"

"I wish," Davis murmured. "I wish there was."

"Well, why not live in a community shelter and get a job until you can afford a place of your own? You could even sell your paintings," Noland said in gesturing to all the pieces on the floor and bed. "People would love to have them. Your ideas are so unique."

Davis just fell quiet, shaking his head and sighing. "There's so much I left unfinished."

"How will you get there?"

"A Digital Gate," Davis said, as he put the paint and brush down. "There's one I can still use."

"When will you come back?"

"Never. Not until the Digital World is fixed again."

"That's a lot of weight on your shoulders, isn't it?"

"Someone has to," Davis said.

Noland nodded. "Then get the others to help you also."

"They can't. I'm the only one that can go through the gate."

"What about going through the computer like you used to?"

"It doesn't work anymore," Davis said. "The Kaiser destroyed most of the gates. The only one left goes right into his citadel," Davis explained, as he tore the purple painting off of the drawing pad.

The man was quiet again for a long time. He would look at Davis. He would look at the paintings. He would look at the sketches. He would look at his feet. "Daisuke," the man finally began, "what would you say if... I wasn't going to approve your release?"

Davis' brown eyes went wide, and he looked over at the doctor. "Wh-what?"

"Just listen to me," he said calmly. "We still have more work to do before I make any real decisions. I'm going to tell you up front that I don't think you're crazy. Everything you've said to me today is too fantastic not to be real. No one else but you may have seen the Digital World and its Digimon, but no one has seen God either, but people are sure He exists. It's not my place to say nothing is real. What I am concerned about is the danger you'll be putting yourself in. I'm not comfortable sending you back to a man who raped you and gave you those scars."

"But I have to go back!" Davis protested. "If I don't, no one's going to be able to help the Digital World!"

"Okay, okay..." Noland made a calming motion with his hands. He quickly gave Davis a new brush and a cup of yellow paint. "Same exercise, but tell me what's wrong with the Digital World."

The chair clattered to the floor as Davis suddenly stood up, hands clenched into fists at his side and refusing to take the paint. "I have to go!"

"Daisuke, that is something we have to work towards," the doctor explained.

"I've spent too much time here already! I can't stay!"

"Daisuke, you don't have a choice. I'm trying to help you, but if you don't work with me, we can't achieve anything. You need to be talking to me so I can understand what you're feeling and thinking." Davis took a deep breath, but then turned away from the man and headed back to the corner of the room where the doctor had first found him, sitting down and taking back the drawing pad that had covered his face before and propping it up so it did once again. The doctor got up and followed the boy. "Daisuke," he tried not to sound desperate, "don't shut down. You were doing such an excellent job. If you ignore me, there's no chance of you ever getting out of here. You need to understand that." But Davis didn't want to listen. He just shook his head at the doctor, not saying anything more, picking up the pastels and starting to color in the picture of Chibimon. The doctor sighed in defeat. Obviously Davis was done for the day. In reality, that was okay, though. They'd been working for a couple of hours already. So the art supplies were packed up, the paintings hung on the wall as promised, and the doctor left, but not without picking up a sketch of the Kaiser off the floor to take with him.


	27. Storm Brewing

Dr. Noland Underwood returned within a week's time. He brought back the same art supplies, though whether they would be used successfully or not was a matter to be seen. He came into the room to find even more drawings littering the floor; practically to the point that he could hardly step anywhere. "Hello, Daisuke," the man greeted warmly. "Are you ready to try again?" Davis was laying in the middle of the floor. Today, instead of drawing something new, he was taking his old drawings and scribbling his name on the bottoms, even though most of them were already signed. He sometimes rewrote his name so many times that it became incomprehensible. He glanced up at the doctor, but then looked back at the current picture he was signing. "All right, then." Noland cleared a place for the chairs and canvas, took a seat, and set up two brushes with a cup of purple and a cup of yellow. "I need you to paint for me, Daisuke. Use these two colors to paint me a picture. First thing you think of when you look at them." Davis looked at the paint, and then sighed and got to his feet, taking the brushes. He began to paint, but didn't sit down. The doctor had his pen and notebook at the ready. "What does the name Ken Ichijouji mean to you?"

Davis' hand stopped, and he looked at the doctor with unreadable eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"Because somehow, Ken Ichijouji died four years ago only to apparently become the Kaiser of the Digital World."

"H-how could you know that?" Davis asked.

The doctor pulled from his notebook the sketch he'd taken. "I thought this drawing looked familiar. Now I know why." He then pulled out a photo of Ken, now sixteen, with long hair framing his face and shoulders. "Because it's Ken."

Davis snatched away his drawing, frowning deeply. "Where's that photo from?" he asked. "He hasn't left the Digital World in a long time."

"It's called image aging, Daisuke. I found a photo of Ken from four years ago and ran it through the program. You can do it with anybody. According to the imaging, this is what Ken would look like if he was alive today. There was another boy who disappeared the same time Ken Ichijouji did. His name was Daisuke Motomiya." The doctor pulled out another two photos. One of Davis when he was eleven, the second was an aged piece from the same program. "Add a few scars and this is you."

"I look... happy," Davis murmured, looking at the two pictures before turning back to the canvas, raising his shoulders slightly.

The doctor scribbled some notes. "Does Ken know what happened to his parents?"

"Wh-what happened?"

"They both died."

"Died!?" Davis' brown eyes snapped over to the doctor. "Y-you're messing with me."

"No, I'm not. I don't lie or trick my patients. Mrs. Ichijouji couldn't stand having both her children dead, so she drowned herself in the bathtub. After that, Mr. Ichijouji fell into depression and drank himself into liver and kidney failure." The doctor looked at Davis with very serious green eyes. "Where have the two of you been this whole time?"

Davis fell silent for a moment, feeling the weight of the news sink in. It wasn't his fault, and yet he felt terrible. "I told you," he said quietly. "The Digital World."

"Where... is... the Digital World?"

"I don't know." He then glanced at the doctor, and said, "But if you give me back what this place took from me, I'll show you how to get there."

"No, Daisuke. I'm not playing games with you. Listen to me. I know you love Ken, I do, and you want to protect him. You can't. I don't know where you two have been hiding all these years, but it's time to stop. Ken could be in danger. He's your boyfriend and you don't want to betray him, but you won't be. You'll be getting him the help he needs. Let us help you. That's all we want to do."

Davis' hands clenched into fists again, his eyes narrowing. "You don't believe me," he breathed, almost sounding amazed and angered at the same time.

"No, Daisuke, I do believe you. I believe you, but I don't understand. I don't understand what or where the Digital World is. I believe one hundred percent that there is another place out there somewhere that you've gained access to, but I need to know what... it... is, please."

"I don't know what it is either!" Davis cried. "Why does that matter!? I just need to get back there! It doesn't matter what it is!"

"How are we going to help Ken if we don't know where he is?" Noland asked calmly.

"I'll show you where he is!"

"Daisuke, please don't shout. I'm only trying to understand. Remember that I have come in not knowing anything about this. I'm trying. Really I am. I just need you to be patient with me." The doctor took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before continuing. "I have the ability to take you out for the day, but I need to ask you a few questions first, all right? Answer them honestly." Davis breathed in deeply, but let his hands relax and nodded, falling back in his chair. "I need to be absolutely sure all of this is what you say it is. Is the Digital World a club?"

Davis shook his head. "No, it's not a club."

"Is the Digital World a place to buy drugs or alcohol?"

"No," Davis said, shaking his head again.

"Is the Digital World a cult?"

"No!" Davis snapped. "It's a world made of data!"

"Daisuke, please... I had to ask. Now I just need to think for a minute. Finish your painting."

Davis inhaled deeply, but nodded and turned back to the painting, which was almost all purple, and took up the yellow paint instead.

Noland sat in silence for nearly twenty minutes. He kept his hands folded against his mouth while his eyes were trained on the floor. Eventually he noticed that Davis wasn't painting anymore, so he looked up. "Will you show me?" he asked quietly.

"If you give me back what's mine," Davis murmured.

Noland nodded. "I just want to see your final masterpiece, then I'll get you everything you need."

"It's the digital night sky," Davis explained as he turned the canvas to the doctor. Yellow circuitry ran between stars and moons, but was faded into the purple background. "It's been a while since I've seen it."

"Well..." Noland smiled. "Hopefully it'll look just the way you remembered it."

"I hope so too," Davis said with a nod, reaching to tear the painting off of the pad, but then stopping and leaving it there.

"May I have it when you're gone?"

"Will you give the rest to my friends?" Davis asked.

Noland nodded. "The best I can."

"Then yes."

"Thank you. Now tell me what you need."

"My goggles," Davis said, pulling at his bangs, which were starting to get in his face. "They took them from me and I want them back."

"Is that it?"

Davis glanced at the bag in the corner of the room, and then at the large drawing pad next to it. "Everything else is here."

"All right, then get your things. I'm taking you out on a theraputic nature session to the park." Noland smiled. "At least that's what we're going to tell the other doctors." Davis smiled, nodding his head before going to grab the bag and the canvas, slinging the bag over his shoulder carefully and putting the canvas under his arm. Putting a hand on Davis' shoulder, the doctor led him out of the room and to the materials office where patients' items were stored. Noland got Davis' goggles back and then he even got the boy signed out. They got in the doctor's car and drove straight off the grounds without any trouble. "Now where do I need to take you?"

"There's an alley in Odaiba where I appeared in when I came back," Davis explained, holding the canvas in his lap and his bag on top of it.

"There are lots of alleys in Odaiba, Daisuke."

"Um..." Davis put his hand on his head. "It's off the central park, I think."

Noland nodded and took a turn down another street. "I won't be able to go with you, will I, Daisuke?"

Davis was quiet for a moment, but then said, "No, you won't be able to."

The man gave a half smile. "And here I was hoping to have an adventure. Oh well, my life will go on as it is. I'll just have to make it an adventure." Noland slowed to a stop. The park was on one side while an alley loomed on the other. "Look familiar?"

"Yeah," Davis said with a nod. "I think this is it." He looked down the alley, and then bit his lip, looking at the doctor. "I do want to thank you," he murmured. "Would you like to meet a Digimon before I go?"

The doctor nodded. "I really would."

Davis looked down at the bag he held in his lap, and then undid the drawstrings, revealing Pinamon and Chibimon sitting on top of his Digivice and D-Terminal. "Hi there!" Pinamon chirped.

Noland sat there with his jaw hanging open when he saw the two little Digimon. He looked at Davis and then back at the creatures in the bag. "You sure are nice for helping Davis like this!" Chibimon said.

Noland nodded dumbly. "Th-Thank you..."

Davis smiled a bit at the look on the doctor's face. Well, there wasn't any doubt anymore. "This is Chibimon," he said, pointing to the little blue Digimon. "And this is Pinamon."

"Thank you!" Pinamon said, his little feathered tail wagging as he climbed up onto one of Davis' shoulders and then offered his tiny clawed hand to the man.

"I can see why blue makes you happy," the man said. He reached his finger out to shake with Pinamon's clawed hand. "And there are more of these?"

"Tons," Davis said with a nod. "I'm going back to get the ones that belong with the other children. They've been apart from their partners for too long."

Pinamon shook Noland's finger between his clawed hands, giggling. "I'm not Davis' partner, but he helped me, so I'm going to help him too!"

Davis nodded. "There's lots of wild Digimon that don't have human partners, too."

"Can't the Digimon come here?" Noland asked curiously. "I'd love one to sit up with me late at night while doing research. I'm afraid I lied a bit before. I don't have a wife or children. A companion like this would be incredible."

"They can..." Davis said, looking at Pinamon, who looked back at him with a tiny smile curving his beak. "He's helping me right now, but... Pinamon will need a home once all is said and done," Davis said.

"I'll certainly keep a place open for him in my home, so long as he wants to live with me."

Pinamon's feathers ruffled up cutely as he gave a whistling chirp. "Sounds good to me!"

"I'm glad he'll have somewhere to go," Davis said with a nod, as he motioned for Chibimon to get on his other shoulder.

Chibimon obediantly climbed up onto Davis' free shoulder. "Good luck, Daisuke," the doctor said.

"Thank you," Davis said, bowing his head. He then got out of the car, the bag once more over his shoulder. He closed the door behind him, and then began to walk into the alley. He stopped in the spot where he knew the gate had been. He swallowed dryly, slowly lifting his hand, the white sleeve of his plain clothing slipping away and exposing the bracelet. He then tapped it on the smooth surface of the bricks.

There was a spark and a crackle of static electricity before three lines began to glow on the wall. A hum of energy signaled the gate was powering up. Suddenly there was a bright flash as the gate sprang to life and opened. Just on the other side was a dark room, everything inside covered in a slight layer of dust. "Looks dismal," Chibimon said.

Davis frowned, nodding his head. "It sure does," he murmured, stepping inside. The gate closed behind him, and Pinamon frowned as he looked around at the dusty room.

"He must not have been in here in a long time," he observed.

"Probably not since I left," Davis agreed.

"Do you hear that?" Chibimon asked as his ears twitched. "There's a big storm going on outside. Thunder and... Rain?" Big red eyes glanced sideways at the boy. "Davis... it never rains here..."

"This is weird," Davis said, stepping further into the room. He moved as quietly as he could, which was actually pretty easy in the slippers that adorned his feet, sliding across the metal floor. He opened the door to the room into the hallway, taking a look out into it.

There was suddenly a horrible screeching coming from above them. Chibimon looked up to see a Bakemon floating overhead, eyes glaring red, and swept down the hall wailing as loud as it could. "I think we might be in trouble," the little blue Digimon said.

"This is scary..." Pinamon whined. Davis grit his teeth and began to run after the Bakemon, to see where it was going, hoping it could lead him to some sort of clue.

"Davis!" warbled a familiar voice from behind. "Davis, what are you doing here?!"

Davis skid to a stop, spinning around on his socked feet to catch sight of Wormmon. "Well, uh," he started, scratching at the back of his head. "It's a really long story."

"No! No!" Wormmon scurried up to the boy. "You shouldn't be here! You need to go back! Now!"

"Why?" Davis asked, frowning. "Wormmon, what's going on?"

Wormmon shook his head. "I don't have time to explain. You just shouldn't be here. It's too dangerous. Ken... Ken is gone now. We can't get him back." He scurried around behind Davis and began pushing at his ankles. "You need to go back home. It's safe there. Hurry!"

Davis' eyes widened with alarm, and instead of moving, he just crouched down to try and demand an answer. "Wormmon, what happened to Ken?!"

Wormmon hung his head. "I... I don't know..."

"Hey, there he is!" Three collared Gazimon came running around the corner towards Davis. "Stay where you are!" they ordered.

Davis tried to scramble away, but by the time he got to his feet again, the Gazimon had surrounded him. Pinamon fluffed himself up and went to jump down to defend the boy, but Davis put a hand on the little Digimon's back to stop him, another hand lifting to stop Chibimon as well. "But Davis-" Pinamon started to protest, only for Davis to shake his head.

"I'd be a pretty lousy planner if I didn't expect a welcoming party like this. Save your strength."

Two Gazimon grabbed his arms while the third stood to lead the way. "Lord Millenniumon is going to want to see you," it said. "Don't you even think about talking to him. You stand there with your mouth shut, human, got it?"

"Millenniummon?" Davis asked, confusedly raising an eyebrow. "Who's that?"

"Lord Millenniumon is the most powerful Digimon ever known," one of the Gazimon said.

"Davis," Wormmon hissed quietly. "Do you remember that story I told you?"

"Huh? O-oh yeah, I do," Davis murmured. "But... what's he doing in the citadel?"

"Davis, he... He's inside Ken."

"Inside Ken?" Davis asked, brown eyes widening.

"Don't you remember? The Dark Spore contained Millenniumon's soul and mind. It spent all those years manifesting into its own entity, the Kaiser, but even then he didn't have full control. After you left, well... There was nothing for Ken's humanity to hold onto, so Millenniumon was able to take full control. He's not Ken anymore. He's not even the Kaiser."

"I-I didn't know it could get that bad..." Davis breathed, wincing a little as one of the Gazimon tugged a bit too hard.

Wormmon's antenna drooped. "Neither did I." They came upon the old throne room. On either side of the door stood two Apemon, their gold fur vibrant against the dark steel walls, and they both looked at Davis with vicious glowing eyes. "Those are his body guards," Wormmon whispered. Inside the throne room was the original dark twisted throne, but it appeared all the consoles and controls had been moved down there as well. Typing furiously at one screen was the body of the boy they once knew. Long hair was pulled back as usual, but how his eyes had gone from indigo to blood red. His fingernails were grown out, all of them silver save for the middle red ones. Strange black symbols marked his pale skin all along his arms and neck. Davis' mouth went dry when he looked upon the other boy. This was not at all what he was expecting. Taking the Gazimon's words to heart, he didn't say anything at first. Announcing their presence was probably a bad idea, anyway. He could feel Pinamon shivering against his cheek and wished he could touch the little Digimon to calm him down, but the Gazimon held his arms firm at his sides.

"So, the infamous Daisuke Motomiya has returned." Ken's lips moved to the words, but the voice slipping past was deep, large, and loud. It echoed through the place like the beating of a war drum. "Hardly the prodigal son, though. You've returned with nothing and all I can feel is disappointment in your lack of effort. You brought none of the other children with you. Your Digimon are still weak. You probably don't even have a plan, do you?"

Davis was quiet for a few moments longer, but the question burnt at his pride much more than the threat of being hurt weighed on his mind. "I did, but this sort of puts a wrench in it," he answered flatly.

He laughed. "I suppose it would. So, should I allow you to return home where you can wait for the invasion, or do you sincerely wish to remain here and witness the revolution?"

Davis swallowed, but lifted his head up and said, "I'll stay." He then glanced at Chibimon and Pinamon, asking them both silently if they still wanted to stay.

Chibimon gave a firm nod. He stuck by his boy, even through hell fire. "Perhaps you aren't as weak as I previously thought. I suppose this human will be grateful as well for the company." He finally turned away from the console and came down to meet Davis. "But you try anything, and I'll have your head removed from your body. I've waited too long for this. No human child will stand in my way."

Davis just looked back into red eyes, the Digimon's words confusing him more than they intimidated him. He glanced briefly at Pinamon, who also gave him an affirmative nod of his intentions to stay along with the boy, and then brown eyes looked back into red. "I'll remember that."

"Good." He smirked. "Revolution!" the Digimon bellowed with his arms raised.

"Revolution!" the Gazimon cheered back.

"I'm confused," Pinamon whispered. "What's being revolutionized?"

"The world!" he bellowed in answer. "Don't ask this human what he doesn't know. A lower life form like him doesn't understand anything. We Digimon have been trapped here too long! Humans use their technology to give birth to us, yet they don't even bother to know we are here. It is an outrage! We will let them know! We will take what is rightfully ours! No longer will we be forced to endure this artificial reality. I will lead all the Digimon in a revolution against the humans. Those walking primates are destroying their world anyway. They hardly deserve it. Soon, the Digimon will be free and they will use the earth properly because we know how to appreciate it!"

Pinamon jumped when he shouted, his feathers fluffing up with surprise. "Have you ever been to the human world?" Pinamon asked.

"Of course I have, you fool. You think I'm not powerful enough to find a way to the other side?"

"I just wanted to know..." Pinamon murmured.

"Pinamon," Davis hissed, shaking his head a little.

"However, I cannot be expected to lead my army in a human body." He turned his back, hands folded behind him. "That is why I must be reborn. Your job, Daisuke Motomiya, is to be mindful of this body until my time of rebirth, at which point neither you nor this boy will be of any use to me."

"And then what?" Davis asked, his mouth pulling into a frown.

"You will die with the rest of your kind." Davis grit his teeth, his hands coming to form fists at his side. He wanted to shout at this Digimon that had taken over the Kaiser, tell him his plan would fail, proclaim his imminent triumph, but something kept his jaw wired shut. Perhaps everything he'd gone through had taught him that there was a time for bravado and a time for silence. "Silent?" Red eyes looked over his shoulder. "Good. Maybe you'll have the same dignity in death." The Digimon turned to face the boy. "You understand your instructions, yes?" He put his hand over his own stomach. "Nothing is to happen to me while I am in here. Break this human's legs if it means keeping him out of trouble, but I must not be harmed."

"If you are?" Davis asked, still trying to keep his voice level, though it took every fiber of his being not to deck the smug Digimon across the face.

"Then I'm in this body that much longer. If my egg is cracked or destroyed, then the process starts all over." He grinned. "I don't think you want that for your friend, do you?"

"You have a strange definition of friend," Davis commented, mentally noting everything he was being told.

"Friend or not, do you really want to see him carrying a DigiEgg the rest of his life?"

"Guess not," Davis sniffed.

"No, I guess you don't." Red eyes stared the human down for a few minutes before deciding he was done with him. "Get him out of here. Take him to the chambers."

Each of the Gazimon saluted and started to drag Davis away. Upstairs, they opened the bedroom door and threw him inside. "Millenniumon says you have to stay here until the other boy is ready," a Gazimon said and then closed the door.

"Hey, wait a se-!" Davis started, but groaned when he realized the Gazimon were gone. Looking at the Digimon on his shoulders, he sighed. He wanted to send them back to Wormmon's room, but he didn't know if the green Digimon would be there or not, and he didn't want them sitting alone. So, he shuffled over to the bed and sat down, putting Pinamon and Chibimon on the bed next to him.

"This is crazy," Pinamon squeaked sadly.

"I know," Davis murmured, nodding his head.

"Whoever thought Millenniumon would actually come back," Chibimon wondered aloud. "This is serious. Davis, you can't let him carry out this plan."

Davis nodded in agreement. "We're going to need to think up a plan of our own. But it's not going to be easy."

"Especially not if the Kaiser doesn't know what's going on," Pinamon pointed out. "He won't be too eager to help!"

"I need to get us all of our playing ground back," Davis said, putting his head in his hand. "The chosen DigiEggs..."

"He can't stay dumb forever!" Chibimon piped up. "He's going to notice sooner or later that there's a DigiEgg growing in him. Not to mention all the other stuff going on inside him. If he wants to avoid all of it, you need to tell him to let the Chosen Digimon free!"

"He won't realize it at first, so if I tell him right away, he probably won't believe me," Davis said. "Especially since I just showed up after leaving him here. I'll have to find a way to either gain his trust back, or... somehow make it appealing to him to give me the DigiEggs."

Chibimon crossed his paws. "You can't appeal anything to the Kaiser. But you know what... I think he deserves it!"

"Even if he does, Chibimon, the whole human race is at stake here," Davis pointed out with a frown. "We can't mess around or tread lightly anymore. It's everything or nothing now."

"Well, why not just..." Chibimon rubbed his paws together. "Keep him from laying the egg? All you have to do is break it now and then. Easy."

"How long would he let me do that?" Davis sighed. "He's not a reasonable guy who I can just explain the situation to. He'll inevitably get mad and lock me up or fight back, and then we're back at square one." Davis breathed outwards heavily, murmuring, "There has to be a way to get rid of this guy for good. But we need to figure out how."

"You can't," Wormmon warbled quietly. He came crawling in through a small hole in the wall; a tunnel he'd chewed out between their rooms. "Millenniumon is essentially immortal. As are all Digimon. Whether you break him back down into an egg, or attempt to destroy his form, he will always come back. Even if you destroyed the egg after Ken births it, the shards will act as a life source and find a new host. It's always been that way."

Davis looked surprised when Wormmon suddenly came in through the the hole in the wall, but shook his head when the Digimon spoke. "There has to be a way," he insisted. "The old Digidestined could overcome a Digimon that warped time and space and nearly broke them down into nothingness. I'm not going to admit defeat to some indestructible leech."

"Don't make Ken suffer anymore!" Wormmon begged.

"Would you rather I let every human get killed?!" Davis retorted.

Wormmon slumped, his little green body looking utterly defeated. "If it means Ken can be set free... Then yes..."

"Wormmon..." Davis murmured, looking torn between what to feel. After a moment, he just shook his head and turned to Pinamon and Chibimon. "Guys, go back to Wormmon's room with him."

"You don't even know what that monster is doing to him!"

Chibimon nodded at his boy and hopped down off the bed. "C'mon, Wormmon, you need some rest."

"No, I don't! Ken... He's changing my boy! He's going to change Ken and use him for his own sick purposes. Ken deserves better!"

"Wormmon, not now... We'll talk about it later."

"Wormmon, we're gonna try and help," Pinamon said as he hopped down and tried to help Chibimon corral the green Digimon back into the hole. "But if Ken shows up and we're in the room he'll probably get mad. Let's go back."

Wormmon pushed them off roughly. Purple eyes stared at Davis, but then they closed and he turned around. "Ken doesn't deserve this," he said and crawled back into the hole. Davis sighed heavily as he watched Pinamon and Chibimon follow. Great, he thought. The one person who'd always asked him to help, always told him to keep trying, was suddenly against him. The situation just seemed to steadily get worse and worse.


	28. A Grand Welcome Back

"Unhand me!" the Kaiser's voice shouted from out in the hall. "You insubordinate dogs! I'll see you whipped for this!" The door swung open and six Gazimon marched in, all of them working to hold the Kaiser's arms and legs to carry him into the room. "Have you forgotten who I am?!" None of them answered and just threw the boy onto the floor and left, again closing the door. His appearance seemed to be back to normal. "I'll turn you all back into eggs!" he screeched after them.

Davis' head had snapped up when he heard the more familiar voice, and he just watched from the bed as the Kaiser was thrown in and proceeded to yell at the closed door. He waited a moment, but then stood up, shuffling over to the Kaiser and standing over him. "Long time no see," he said, offering his hand to help the Kaiser up, though he doubted it would be accepted.

The Kaiser flinched slightly. He looked up at the other boy, indigo eyes wide with disbelief. "Davis?" He reached up to touch the hand being offered to him. When it was real, the Kaiser jumped up and wrapped his arms around the other. "Davis! You're back!" the Kaiser cried delightedly and proceeded to press their lips together. Davis gasped when their lips met, his eyes wide. That was the complete opposite of what he was expecting. Still, he allowed the kiss, preferring it much more to a violent reaction, and allowed it to linger for a few moments before he pulled back, hoping his expression looked less surprised than he felt, conjuring up a smile for the other. The Kaiser pressed his hand against the side of Davis' face. "I can't believe you're here. I thought you were never coming back. I had been so mean to you, I was so sure... But now you've come back!" he said and kissed the boy again. "We'll start over. I'll put Odaiba back up and we'll go on another date. We'll do this one right."

Davis opened his mouth to say something, a million things presenting themselves as good places to start. But the Kaiser just looked so excited to see him back, and Davis had been waiting to see him for such a long time. So instead, he nodded and said, "Yeah, alright," his smile remaining intact.

"Oh Davis, I love you. I love you so much. And I'm sorry I drove you away. I really am. Having the Digital World all to myself wasn't even worth it without having you around. I... I got so scared, you know?" The Kaiser touched the back of Davis' neck. "I thought those dark feelings were going to get me. Those bad things I was telling you about, remember? I felt them inside me every day. I was afraid I was going to... to..." He shook his head. "But none of that matters now! We're together again."

"Mhm," Davis said, nodding his head. "I actually... came to offer you something..." The boy stepped carefully around his words, loosening hands that were rigid at his sides with surprise and instead sliding them up to rest on the Kaiser's hips. "You know the DigiEggs, right? And hear me out."

The Kaiser frowned slightly. "We've discussed this, Davis," he warned.

"No no, listen," Davis said, shaking his head. "I want to offer you something for them."

"Oh?" One dark eyebrow went up. "And what is that?"

"Me," Davis said, swallowing slightly and putting a hand on the plain white fabric that clothed his chest. "If you let me bring them back, even if it's only one by one, then I'll do anything you say and... stay here with you forever," he murmured, nodding as if to affirm his own choice to make this offer. "My soul for theirs."

The Kaiser listened carefully to the offer, seeing as how he owed Davis that much. When the other was done speaking, he thought silently. "I'm not sure, Davis," he said. "There are too many holes in that for me to agree."

"Just... just say them and we can work it out," Davis answered.

"First, how do I know you won't get down to the last one and run off with it? You could very easily leave and not come back, Davis."

"Chibimon is here," Davis said, gesturing in the direction of Wormmon's room. "I wouldn't leave him behind. So I'd definitely some back."

"He could follow you," the Kaiser countered.

"You could make sure he doesn't," Davis answered. "So I'd have to come back to get him."

"All right..." The Kaiser nodded. "Second, how do I know your friends won't use their Digimon to come rescue you?"

"They don't have any way to get through the gate," Davis said quietly.

"Their Digimon do," he replied. "It's only a matter of using their code within the Digivice to pass through the gate. Your red-haired friend is very good at that. Davis, I need a guarantee you won't be taken from me. Promises... You promised once before and still left me. I... I'm just not sure yet."

"You don't have to even give me the first DigiEgg until you're sure I'm telling you the truth," Davis said, hesitating before deciding to kiss the Kaiser's cheek. "And I'll show you that I am."

Indigo eyes closed for the kiss and then blinked back open. "Oh Davis, what did they do to you?" He touched the white clothing on the other boy's body. "I know what these are. I know where they put you. Locked you away. Those monsters..." The Kaiser looked up at Davis. "You're broken now. I warned you. I warned you that the real world had changed too much. I said you weren't ready for it. Look what happened."

"It's mostly my fault," he murmured, tugging on the white clothing with a frown. "I'm the one that allowed myself to get so angry. I wouldn't have wound up there if I could have kept a hold on my temper."

"Anger is only passion fueled by our more primal instincts. There is nothing wrong with anger. Anger is beautiful and an art when expressed properly. No one back in that dreadful place understands that. Only you and I do." The Kaiser took Davis' hand and pulled him towards the closet. "All your clothes are still here. Let's get you back into something more human."

"Gladly," Davis said, sliding off the sock-like slippers and kicking them into the bottom of the closet. He then grabbed the hem of the long sleeved white shirt and pulled it up over his head, throwing it over the top of the closet door when it was swung open.

The Kaiser bit his lip. "Oh god... Davis..." he purred. The Kaiser stepped closer. One hand held a square shoulder while the other slipped around to hold over a shoulder blade. Then pale lips met the dark chest. Tan skin, firm muscles, shallow scars, warm flesh, pulsing blood and a beating heart. Damn it how he had missed this.

Davis looked surprised at first, but smirked a bit as one hand came to slip up the Kaiser's back, under his shirt. "You know, I think it's the Dark Spiral that made me like this," he murmured.

The Kaiser sighed dreamily when Davis touched him. "Did it really? Body enhancement never came up in the design analysis. Are you sure it wasn't all the hard work you did?"

"What hard work?" Davis asked, scratching at the back of his head. "I don't remember you saying anything about me working when I was here. It must have been the spiral."

"Just grunt work. You cleaned, fixed things, helped build materials. That sort of thing," he said with a shrug. "You exercised a lot too. I found you doing push ups once. I asked you why and you said you were bored."

"Huh..." Davis pondered this for a moment before laughing gently. "Maybe it wasn't the spiral after all, then."

"You're a very hard worker, Davis." The Kaiser stroked the other's chest. "I was impressed by you often. I watched you grow big and strong. It was spectacular, really."

"And here I was worried about the spiral's effects wearing off eventually..." he said, biting his lip and smiling a bit as the Kaiser's thin fingers moved across his skin. "I guess it was a dumb thing to assume."

The Kaiser grinned. "Davis, is it just me, or are you genuinely delighted to be back here with me?"

"I wouldn't have come back if I didn't want to," Davis pointed out.

"For me?" The Kaiser leaned into Davis' body. "Or for those eggs?"

"I want to get the eggs for the others, not for myself," Davis said, offering the Kaiser a light kiss on the lips. "The only thing here for me is you."

"Such a Casanova," the pale boy purred. The Kaiser pulled Davis back out of the closet towards the bed. He fell back onto the sheets first and then dragged Davis down with him. "Just how much did you miss me, then?"

"I wish I hadn't given away all of the pictures I drew," Davis said, glancing over at the drawing pad that was propped up against the foot of the bed before he was pulled over to straddle the Kaiser's hips. "Then I could've shown you."

The Kaiser's face lit up. "You drew pictures of me?"

"When I was at the ward..." Davis began to explain, "They put me through this color therapy thing where they wanted me to get out my emotions through art. You came up a lot."

"I can imagine," he replied. The Kaiser took to touching Davis' face again and one of his hands. "Do you think you could draw me again? I'd love to see how you see me. If you do me any justice," he added with a smirk.

"Sure," Davis said with a quiet laugh, sitting upwards and offering his hand to help the Kaiser up as well. He then reached over and grabbed the canvas and bag, opening the bag up at the foot of the bed and taking out his supplies. He then scooted back against the headboard with the canvas leaning back against his bent-up knees and patted the spot next to him for the other boy to come watch. The Kaiser crawled up to sit beside Davis. He watched the tan hand move, lines sweeping across the paper, slowing taking form. It didn't take long before Davis had the linework down. He almost worked completely from memory, though he did glance over at the other one one or two times to make sure certain details he thought he remembered really were the way he thought they were. Though many of the pictures he'd drawn before showed the Kaiser from the back, or perhaps presented him in an almost intimidating light, the picture he found before him then was serene, but bold. The expression that formed on the portrait was that of quiet and calm determination. Content with the charcoal lines, Davis then rooted around in the pastels to color the image in. The Kaiser was in awe of Davis' ability. He had no idea the other boy was this talented. How often did the jock who loved to clown around end up having an artist's eye? The image looking back at him was amazing. The Kaiser almost didn't recognize his own face. In the mirror, he never saw those dark deep eyes, the subtle elegant placement of his hair, the way his shoulders sloped... He had no idea he could look this way, to anybody. When Davis finally put the pastels away, happy with his coloring, from the lilac highlights on lavender hair and eyes and the pink lighting up otherwise pale skin, he glanced at the Kaiser only to realize that the other boy was staring at the picture. He laughed a bit nervously as he asked, "What do you think?"

"Do I really look like that?" the Kaiser breathed.

"Well... yeah, I think so," Davis said with a nod. "Why, do you not like it?"

"I love it," he breathed again. "I didn't know I could look so beautiful, so... human..."

Davis smiled a bit, taking the picture and carefully tearing it from the drawing pad. He then offered it to the other boy. "Here. If this isn't what you see in the mirror, you should keep this around to remind you that your mirror's not very accurate." The Kaiser took the drawing carefully into his hands. He got up and placed it on his table where it would be safe. Almost instantly he was back on the bed, lips pressed flush against Davis'. Davis was caught as he turned around from having placed the bag and the canvas back on the floor. He made a surprised noise at first, but after a moment, his eyes slid shut and he pressed back into the kiss.

"You can't ever leave me again," the Kaiser insisted as rolled over onto his back and brought Davis with him.

Davis found himself once more straddling the Kaiser's hips, hands on either side of his shoulders. "I'm going to show you that I'm being honest," he murmured, as he leaned down and began to kiss lightly at the Kaiser's neck. "That I'll do whatever you say and stay here with you forever."

"Will you give me what I've wanted all this time?" the Kaiser asked. His slender fingers moved all along Davis' back and into his hair. "Oh god, Davis... Sometimes it almost hurts."

Davis inhaled quickly, but swallowed and breathed out, "Anything," with a gentle nod as he lips continued to move up and down the Kaiser's slender neck.

"Do you know how?" the Kaiser whispered into his ear.

"I-I can try and figure it out," Davis answered, blushing slightly.

Indigo eyes stared up into brown. "I can help you."

"You're going to have to," Davis said with a nervous laugh. "'Cuse I don't know the first thing about it."

"Well..." The Kaiser stroked Davis' cheek. "What the first thing you should do?"

"I-I dunno," Davis said, rolling his shoulders up into a shrug.

The Kaiser just smiled. "Our clothes, Davis."

"O-oh, right," Davis said, smiling sheepishly as he ducked his head down to look at the Kaiser's clothing. His hands landed on the bottom of the other boy's shirt, taking it in his hands with another dry swallow, and then pulled it up and over his head, before throwing it aside, letting it fall to the ground in front of the closet.

"Good start," he purred. The Kaiser took Davis' hand and set it upon his pale, sloping chest. "Did you miss this, too?"

Davis could feel the cherry red blush on his tan cheeks heating up, his hand sliding over soft, pale skin. "I thought about it," he admitted quietly.

"There's still more," the Kaiser said in guiding those hands to his pants. "First mine and then yours."

"One thing first, i-if you don't mind," Davis said, one hand moving back up and around the back of the Kaiser's head, letting his hair free from the ponytail, removing the hairband that kept it back and letting the indigo locks spill out across the sheets, his fingers moving through them as they did. The pale boy sighed as his hair splayed out over the bed. He'd missed this, too. Davis adoring his dark locks, feeling them. The Kaiser's milky skin stood out against indigo locks; like the moon in the night sky. Davis' fingers were raked through the dark hair gently a few more times before he nodded to himself, and then his hands went back to where they had been placed. "I always found myself drawing you with your hair down," Davis murmured, as his fingers began to unbutton and pull at the zipper of the other boy's pants.

"Really?" Slender hands moved across the tan body where they pleased. "I usually wear it up to keep it out of the way, but I suppose I could wear it down more often for you. If you really wanted me to, Davis."

"You don't have to do it all the time," Davis said, as he slowly pulled off the Kaiser's pants. "But in moments like this, I'd like to see it down."

The Kaiser nodded. "Alright." When his pants were removed, the Kaiser reached down and pulled on Davis' white asylum pants. "You'll never have to put these back on."

"I'm glad," Davis said with a quiet exhale. "That place... wasn't very fun."

"No, I'm sure it wasn't. They aren't meant to be, either. People call them a place of healing but it's nothing more than a prison with pills every hour. Putting you in there was a crime, Davis."

Davis glanced away, murmuring, "I'm the one that did the crime..."

"Davis, you may be annoying and a bit dull sometimes, but I know you could never do something that horrible. It must have been a mistake."

Davis looked at the Kaiser and shook his head. "I hit someone over the head with a chair," he admitted quietly. "He needed thirty stitches and almost went into a coma."

Instead of looking shocked, the Kaiser ended up biting his lip and snickering quietly. "Are... Are you serious?"

Davis' brow wrinkled confusedly. "Yeah?"

He bursted out laughing. "That's fantastic!"

"Fantastic?" Davis asked, an eyebrow raising further. "Really?"

"Of course! What did he do to deserve it? Look at you funny? Step on your foot?"

"Called my mom a whore and my dad an alcoholic," Davis murmured.

The laughter abruptly stopped. "Oh my... Well, a chair to the head is hardly enough of a punishment. Did you jam something down his throat, too? You should have broken his legs so he couldn't get away."

"I was at school..." Davis said, shaking his head. "I got a taser to me by security and that was that."

"Tasers don't affect you," the Kaiser said. "Unless..." His fingers touched the scarred and once tough skin. "You can feel again."

"Yeah," Davis said with a nod. "I can."

"I'll try and keep it that way," the Kaiser promised. "I know it was about not being able to beat you before, but now I want you to feel good with me. Besides, if you really are here to stay, there's no reason for me to punish you. Now... Do you know what to do next?" Falling silent and taking a guess, Davis' hands found themselves on the hem of the Kaiser's underwear. He inhaled, and then slipped them off, allowing them to fall to the floor atop the other boy's pants. The Kaiser smiled. "Very good. Now this next part we're going to do together, all right?"

"Alright," Davis said with a nod. "What's the next part?"

"This..." The Kaiser took Davis' right hand and slid the index finger into his mouth. His tongue wrapped all around the digit, getting it good and wet. Slender legs were then lifted and propped up on Davis' hips. Finally, the Kaiser led Davis' hand down and underneath. He pressed finger against himself gently before guiding it in. "Whatever you do, don't jerk it," the boy warned. Davis' blush had erupted furiously in only those few seconds. He nodded dumbly, licking his own lips as he began to experimentally move the finger, slowly and carefully. The Kaiser laughed gently. "It's not a squirming motion, Davis. That won't get us anywhere. Here... Like this..." Still with his hand on the other's, the Kaiser helped to move the finger in and out slowly. "Feel that? The friction gets me ready for the more powerful sensation you'll introduce later."

"A-alright," Davis said, still nodding. He moved his hand as the Kaiser guided it, and soon he no longer needed the guidance and the Kaiser's hand could fall away.

After Davis did this on his own a bit longer, the Kaiser spoke. "Give me your hand again, Davis."

Davis carefully removed his hand and did as he said, offering it to the Kaiser again.

While the first finger was still wet, the Kaiser had to get the second finger ready for entering him. He sucked on the second digit, slicking it up. "Now use both," he instructed.

"How many times do you do this?" Davis asked, as his hand moved back down and now two fingers slipped inside.

A groan was the first response Davis got. His own pale fingers gripped weakly at the sheet beneath them. "Until I'm ready," the Kaiser breathed in reply. Davis felt his blood rush between his legs at the sound of that groan. It was a sound he'd heard, laying awake in his bed in the real world and listening to Taichi and Yamato across the hall, but a sound that he never thought would come from his own ministrations. He bit his lip slightly, but continued to probe wit his fingers, sliding them back and forth, perhaps in search of hearing that sound again. "Nnngh... Make a scissor," the Kaiser instructed. "You... You'll never fit if you d-don't stretch me." Indigo eyes closed with a long moan. It had practically been a year since he'd felt this. But now it was almost new. Like starting over. At first Davis seemed confused, but soon he understood what the other boy was asking. His fingers slowly spread apart and then were brought back together, over and over, slowly moving further out each time. "Ahn... Ahnng!" The Kaiser turned his head to the side, his cheek pressing into the hair spread out beneath him. Finally his face was turning pink, revealing his feelings, making him vulnerable.

"You okay?" Davis whispered, even as his fingers continued to move in, out, and apart, fluidly and carefully.

"If I t-told you that it hurt, would... would you stop?" the Kaiser asked with a strained voice.

"W-well yeah, of course," Davis said, brown eyes widening slightly. "Does it?"

"Of course it does," the Kaiser replied with a wry smile. "But it's supposed to. It always hu-hurts at first, Davis."

"I didn't know that," Davis murmured. "B-but if it hurts really badly, just say the word and I'll stop."

The Kaiser couldn't help but to laugh. "The real pain hasn't even started yet. Give me your hand again, Davis."

Davis frowned a bit, but still did as he was told and offered up his hand again. "It's really supposed to hurt?"

"Davis, you're shoving your nails and fingers into my rectum, and stretching it beyond its natural limits. Don't you think some pain is unavoidable?" He then took the third and final finger into his mouth to get it ready. "This helps, though," he added when the wet digit was removed from between his lips.

Davis winced a bit at the very blunt explanation, but he nodded as he said, "I guess so, yeah." Still, he took back his slicked up hand and slid all three fingers in. First, they moved in and out, but soon he was spreading the three apart, first only a bit and then more and more each time, brown eyes intently watching the Kaiser's face and ears almost tuned to listen.

At first the Kaiser just clenched his teeth against the rough sensation on his insides. When Davis spread his fingers, however, the Kaiser let out a pained cry from his trembling chest. "Ahhn! Ahhhh Davis!" Brown eyes jumped up with surprise, but the boy didn't stop. He had a feeling that if he did he'd be scolded, so he continued moving his fingers, tempted as he was to stop and ask if the other boy was alright. The pained cry turned to laughter, shaky and broken as it was. "G-Good, Davis..." His pale slender hands cupped either side of his renewed lover's face. "Very good... Now... Now show your m-master you love him..." Davis inhaled sharply when he heard those words, freezing for a moment. He was unsure of what to do, staring up at the other boy for a few long seconds. But after some quiet contemplation, he pushed up and locked the other boy into a kiss, his fingers probing deeper and his tongue running along the lips he pressed flush against. The Kaiser fought the urge to push Davis away. This isn't what he meant! But he had to remind himself that the boy was still new to this and had to learn. So the Kaiser accepted the kiss for a moment before turning his head away to break it. "Honestly, Davis," he sighed heavily. "Do I have to do everything for you?" The Kaiser's hands were suddenly on Davis. One was pulling those fingers out while the other had taken hold of that long, thick length and was guiding it down. "Think you can manage the rest?"

"O-oh," Davis stammered, face hot with an embarrassed blush. "Sorry," he said quietly, glancing away before he exhaled shortly, nodding his head. He hesitated a moment before pushing inside, slowly, almost at once groaning and curling his chin into his chest at the intensely new feeling.

"Nnng! Nn- Nnyah!" The Kaiser's legs came up, colliding with Davis' arms, and his hands grabbed violently at the sheets, pulling terrible wrinkles in them. His entire body trembled and he suddenly latched onto the boy above him. "Oh god, Davis... Why were you gone so long?!"

"I-I'm sorry," Davis breathed, his voice barely there as he tried to get used to the feeling. And when he began to move, pushing further in, his face only turned redder and he let out another long groan.

"I was so scared all by myself," the Kaiser cried. His voice hitched. When Davis pushed in, he let forth another cry of discomfort, waiting for it to turn to pleasure.

"I'm s-s-sorry," Davis repeated, his voice still hard to hear. "Nngh..." He groaned loudly and his body shuddered when he pushed all the way in to the hilt, biting his lip and his eyes slamming shut.

His hips bucked. "Your t-touch, your smell, yo-your voice... all of it was g-gone..." The Kaiser began moving against Davis, no longer patient enough to wait. Davis gasped loudly when the Kaiser moved against him, the feeling intensifying so greatly. Finally understanding, his hips began to move, steadily in and out, gasps and groans escaping his lips as he did. "I-I-I hated you so much!" the Kaiser cried again. Finally it was starting to feel good, and hopefully Davis was figuring that out. "I ha-hated you because I loved you so m-much and you didn't even ca-c-care! Ahh! Ahhn! I loved you more th-than anyone else, a-and you ran away. Nyaah!"

Instead of his voice getting louder, Davis' seemed to be stolen away from him, his face reflecting a groan but no sound managing to slip out from between his lips. This at least allowed him to listen to the Kaiser even as he moved deeper inside him, his own breath hitching every time his own actions made the Kaiser cry out in the middle of the sentence. Finally, his eyes slid open, and he leaned over the other boy and offered a simple, "S-sorry..." before he locked him into a kiss. The Kaiser was about to respond that sorry wasn't good enough, but Davis stopped him with the kiss. There would be plenty of time for scolding later, he decided. So the Kaiser just latched onto Davis, nails digging into his back, and cried out uninhibitedly. Davis pulled back and hissed slightly, feeling the nails in his back. But though it hurt, he found it sort of exhilarating to finally be able to have feeling once again. The overwhelming feeling that coursed through his body reminded him that he was alive and that he was human, not some sort of overpowered, unfeeling beast like he'd feared he'd become. Somehow this act that he'd been so afraid of when the other boy used to speak of him was now the light that was showing him this. He cracked an eye open, looking at the Kaiser, before he managed to get his voice up to ask, "Wh-what should I call you?"

"Master," he groaned out, pushing against Davis again. "You will c-call me master -Aahn!"

Davis grit his teeth slightly, but he knew he was in far too deep to back out now. He had to. His fingers dug into the sheets, eyes squeezed shut, but he breathed, "M-master, I-I'm about to..."

The Kaiser managed a grin. Now this was more like it. Finally things were getting back to the way they were supposed to be. "Then- nnhg- get on with it," he groaned again, still clawing and clinging."

"Ah... ahhh!" Hard and fast, Davis pushed all the way in before he lost it. The pressure that had been mounting between his legs was released, and he sighed heavily as he did, his whole body shuddering. "Nngh..."

"Aaan-haa!" The Kaiser blushed and cried out as Davis came inside him. Like everything else, he was so glad to feel it again. "You're n-not done," he hissed when he felt the other boy start to slump down.

Davis stared down into indigo eyes, his brow wrinkling confusedly. "Wh-what?" he breathed.

"Damn it, Davis!" the Kaiser managed to shout in annoyance. "That isn't my pussy you just fucked! I'm sure your dick feels better, but mine doesn't. Now what are you going to do about it?"

"O-oh... R-right, s-sorry," Davis breathed, lifting one of his hands from the sheets. He breathed out, and his hand slid down the Kaiser's torso until it came to wrap around his length, gently touching at first before his fingers coiled around it and began to pump steadily.

"Ohh-Oooohh..." The Kaiser arched his back and his hands grabbed at Davis' upper arms, pulling himself up and in. "F-Faster, Davis. Go faster..." Davis bit feverishly at the Kaiser's neck as he complied, his arm flexing under the Kaiser's grip as he started to move his hand faster.

"Ah! Ahh... Ahhhh... Ahhn-Nyaah! Yes! Yesss!" The Kaiser erupted into Davis' hand, releasing everything that been pent up for that year of forced celibacy. The passionate cry was followed by a deep, long sigh and the Kaiser relaxing into the sheets. "Good, Davis... Very good..." Davis shook his now sticky hand, finding that that didn't free it of the Kaiser's release. As he slowly slid himself out, having to move back quite a bit on his knees before he totally was, he stared at his hand, and, now sitting back on his legs, took it into his mouth to clean it off. The pale boy couldn't help chuckling. "You sure that's a good idea?"

Davis pulled his hand out of his mouth, raising an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't it be?"

The Kaiser shrugged teasingly. "Why would it?"

Davis looked down and then back up again. "Now you're worrying me," he breathed with a quiet laugh.

The Kaiser laughed in return. "I like to do that sometimes, but don't worry. It won't hurt you. Not like you'll end up pregnant or anything," he said with another chuckle. Davis gave a overdramatic huff as he went back to cleaning off his hand. Soon it was clean and he fell down onto the sheets next to the Kaiser. "Now..." The Kaiser rolled onto his side, propping up on one elbow, and traced circles on Davis' chest. "Was that really so horrible?"

Davis put his hands behind his head, smirking and sighing as he said, "No, it wasn't."

"That's right. And to think you were so scared and upset by the notion. Don't you feel silly?" he asked, grinning.

"You sure showed me," Davis said, closing his eyes and humming gently with a grin still on his flushed face.

The Kaiser nodded. "I most certainly did. You'll learn, Davis, that I always know what is right and what is best. As such, I have decided it would be best for us to do this again tomorrow night."

"Again?" Davis asked, cracking open one eye. He then laughed and closed it again, nodding his head. "Yeah. Whatever you say, master."

Again there was the temptation to crack Davis across the face for laughing like that. For being so subordinate and juvenile. Instead, though, the Kaiser rubbed his thumb roughly over a dark nub on the boy's chest. "That's right. Whatever I say whenever I say it."

"Ahg..." Davis' eyes opened again and looked confusedly up at the Kaiser, his knees drawing up slightly. "Wh-what?"

"Just what you said," he purred darkly, still rubbing roughly. "Whatever I say whenever I say it. That's how things work around here. Remember?"

"R-right, but..." Davis flinched a bit, removing his hands from behind his head to shift upwards towards the headboard a bit uncomfortably.

"Hm?" The Kaiser just grinned. "But what?"

"Kinda hurts," Davis whined a bit.

"Good," he growled through the grin. "You just remember that." The Kaiser pulled away then. He leaned over to kiss Davis on the lips and drew back with a gentler expression on his face. "Good night, Davis."

Davis looked up at the Kaiser, surprised for a moment, bringing a hand to rub his sore chest soothingly even as he exhaled and murmured, "G'night, master..."


	29. Simplicity

"Davis..." A little blue paw poked the boy's cheek. "Davis... Davis... Davis... Davis..."

"Nn... five more minutes," Davis murmured, waving one of his hands.

"But Pinamon and I are hungry," Chibimon whined while continuing to poke Davis' face.

Davis cracked an eye open, only then realizing that it was Chibimon who was prodding him. "Alright," he said with a quiet laugh. "I'll get up for you guys." He sat up, the sheets pooled around his lap, and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Thanks. We tried asking Wormmon, but he's too busy with the Kaiser," Chibimon explained. He looked around Davis at the other boy curled up tightly in the sheets, whimpering softly, while Wormmon tried to wipe his face with a cool cloth. "The hatchery is gone too, so there's no one else to feed us, and we're starving!" he said, emphasizing by rubbing his white tummy with a pout.

"The hatchery's gone?" Davis asked, eyes widening. "Then where am I even supposed to find food? And... What happened to him?" he asked with a frown as he looked over his shoulder at the whimpering Kaiser.

"It started," Chibimon explained, only to go right back to the subject of food. "Yeah, I guess all the Digimon in there hatched. There's gotta be a kitchen in this place though, right? Let's go find it!"

Davis sighed, leaning down and rooting around through the clothing on the floor for his own. "Sure, alright. Just let me get dressed."

Chibimon tilted his head slightly. "Where are your boxers?"

"Uh, here," Davis said a bit nervously, picking up the boxers and pulling them on under the sheets.

His little white snout wrinkled. "How come you smell funny?"

"I don't," Davis murmured, as he slid out from under the sheets and began to collect the rest of his clothing, putting the white garments away in the closet and picking out a new set of clothing.

"Ya-huh," Chibimon argued as he scampered after Davis. "You smell like... sweat and dirty and... something..." Big red eyes stared up at the boy. "Did you guys fight?"

"No," Davis sighed as he pulled on a pair of jeans and a muscle shirt that was even tighter than it had been before he left.

Chibimon just shrugged. "Whatever. Food! Food! Food!" he exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"Will you bring back a glass of water?" Wormmon asked from his spot on the nightstand where he watched the Kaiser closely. "With ice."

Davis looked over his shoulder at the Kaiser and Wormmon, frowning a bit but nodding his head. "Yeah, sure. Anything for you, Wormmon?"

Wormmon shook his head. "No, thank you, I'm fine."

"Daaaavissss, foooood," Chibimon whined again.

"Alright, alright," Davis said with a smile for his little Digimon. "Let's go find the kitchen," he said, as he started to lead the way out of the bedroom.

"C'mon Pinamon!" Chibimon called as they went out the door. "I sure hope there's Cheerios," he said, skipping down the hall. "I love Cheerios, or Fruit Loops! Except the Kaiser probably doesn't like Fruit Loops. What are you hungry for Pinamon?"

Pinamon skittered out of Wormmon's room, chirping excitedly. "Anything sounds good to me right now! I'm starved! That food at the place wasn't so tasty." Davis just nodded, offering his hands to let the Digimon up onto his shoulders as he began to search around for the kitchen.

Chibimon looked up and down the halls from his perch on Davis' shoulder. "That guy!" he suddenly exclaimed and pointed to a Gazimon with an apple. "Hey, where'd you get that? We're hungry."

The Gazimon sort of snorted at them, but pointed soundlessly in the right direction. Finally, they found themselves in a huge, metal-covered kitchen. Pinamon fluttered excitedly over to a bowl of fruit as Davis threw open the fridge and began to rummage through it. "The Kaiser eats all this health crap," he sighed as he looked through the digital food.

"So... No Cheerios?" Chibimon asked with drooping ears.

"Not the honey kind. Maybe he'll have the regular kind in one of the cabinets," Davis said.

"I'll look!" Chibimon bounded over to the pantry which he hauled open with a small grunt. There, to his delight, up on the fourth shelf was a box of Cheerios. Squatting close to the ground, Chibimon then jumped up, grabbing the first shelf and pulling himself onto its ledge where he did the same thing again on the second shelf. Davis pulled out some yogurt and some sort of breakfast sandwich and figured it would have to do. Seeing Chibimon climbing for his Cheerios and Pinamon happily picking at a banana he'd managed to peel, he nodded to himself and opened up the freezer to put some ice in a glass for Wormmon's requested ice water. "Woah!" the small voice squeaked loudly followed by the sound of a box hitting the floor and dozens of Cheerios spilling across the floor. Chibimon sat up, shaking his head, and looked around at the mess he'd made. "Uh-oh..." But he was at once on his feet and picking the cereal up piece by piece, eating it as he went.

Davis looked over his shoulder and managed a laugh at what he saw. "Chibimon..." he said, shaking his head and smiling before he turned back to the fridge to get the rest of the food. Pinamon helped Chibimon gather up the cereal, and then they were soon heading back towards the bedroom.

"Can we go outside today, Davis?" asked Chibimon as he skipped around the boy's feet. "I think it stopped raining. We should go play!"

"Chibimon..." Davis murmured, looking down at the Digimon. "Don't you remember what we saw yesterday? There's no time to play."

Chibimon halted in his skipping. "Oh yeah..." He started moving again, but it was a slow walk at Davis' heels. "Wormmon didn't want to play either. He was too worried about the Kaiser. Now he's sick and everyone is going to get all bummed out."

"Sorry, buddy," Davis sighed. "I wish we were here to have a good time. But we need to stay serious and come up with a plan while I try and get the DigiEggs back from the Kaiser. If we don't, no one may ever be happy again. Millenniummon's gonna try and take out the whole human race and enslave the Digimon one. If we waste any time we may not be able to stop him."

"I wanna help my home, Davis, honest. It's just..." Red eyes watched his blue feet. "It sounds really, really hard. Especially without the others around to help. I don't know if I'm strong enough."

"I know, Chibimon," Davis said, nodding his head in understanding. "We may not be, but we need to try."

"My stomach hurts!" the Kaiser could be heard groaning from down the hall.

"I know, Ken... It'll be over soon."

"You said that an hour ago! Nnnnhg!" Davis winced slightly at the sound of the Kaiser's groaning, and edged his way into the room, coming to meekly offer Wormmon the water he asked for after placing all of the food down on the vanity.

"Millenniumon is relentless," Wormmon said quietly. He dipped the cloth into the water and used it to dab the Kaiser's face. "I didn't think he would move this fast this soon."

"Maybe he's mad..." Davis murmured to himself as he sat down next to the Kaiser on the bed, biting his lip slightly. Suddenly he regretted what he had done the night before. The Kaiser may had been happy, but if it hurt him, was it worth it to make him happy? But if Davis had gone against him, he wouldn't have been doing a very good job convincing him to turn over the chosen DigiEggs... the boy sighed and rubbed his temples. This was an ethical mess.

Wormmon didn't look up, but still spoke. "You didn't do this."

"How can you be sure?" Davis asked, frowning slightly.

"What could you have done to cause it?"

"I-I dunno," Davis suddenly stammered, scratching at the back of his head.

Wormmon shook his head. "What you did last night has no bearing on what is happening to Ken. It's not your fault, Davis." Davis just fell quiet then, awkwardly nodding and letting Wormmon continue to tend to the other boy. Pinamon was sitting near their breakfasts, but the atmosphere seemed too tense for him to enjoy the food.

"I'm not dead!" the Kaiser suddenly barked. "My god, you'd think there was funeral goin-" He was cut off by another pained moan.

"What can I do to help?" Davis asked Wormmon, biting his lip when he heard the new pained sound.  
His pincers clicked together worriedly. "All we can really do is make him comfortable. I don't know how long the re-coding is going to take. Keeping him comfortable and under control is the best for him. I'm afraid if he moves too much, something could get damaged."

"Alright," Davis said, nodding as he adjusted his place sitting next to the Kaiser. He supposed he'd just have to stay there in case the other boy wanted something.

Eventually Wormmon had to leave in order to fetch more water. He would have sent Davis to do it, only he couldn't bear to see his boy like this anymore. Chibimon sat with Pinamon on the vanity. The only reason they were still there was out of curiosity. Chibimon had heard about humans being re-coded, but never actually seen it. "Davis..." the Kaiser groaned. "Davis, I'm gonna die."

"You're not gonna die," Davis said, shaking his head, even though he wasn't sure about it himself. "This... this'll pass and you'll be fine."

"I've never been sick before," the boy whined. "Is this what it's like?"

"Depends on the illness, but yeah, sometimes," Davis said with a nod. "Getting an upset stomach and keep you in bed for days if its bad, but it goes away. You'll see."

The Kaiser rolled over to look up at Davis with very human eyes. "Is... Is it supposed to feel hot?"

"If you have a fever," Davis said, gently touching the back of his hand to the Kaiser's forehead. "Then yes, it might feel hot..."

"No, this..." The Kaiser took Davis' hand, bringing it under the sheets, and held it to his stomach. "Is this supposed to feel hot?"

Davis swallowed dryly and shook his head. "Not really..."

"Mmmn..." The Kaiser moved so his back was pressed up against Davis' front. "Keep your hands there," he asked softly. "I... I'll feel safer that way."

"A-alright," Davis said, nodding his head gently and resting both of his hands where he was told.

"Maybe we should go," Pinamon whispered to Chibimon, his feathers fluffing up.

Chibimon watched the boys in the bed for another moment before nodding. "Okay," he agreed and hopped down from the vanity, following Pinamon through the hole to Wormmon's room.

Davis let out a short breath, resting his chin atop the Kaiser's head. Realizing he hadn't groaned in pain for a few moments, he asked, "How does it feel now?"

The Kaiser was silent at first. His hands tensed over Davis'. "...Different."

"Better?" Davis asked hopefully.

"It... It doesn't hurt," he admitted. "But, it feels like something is there."

Davis let out another breath, and then murmured, "Something is..."

The Kaiser looked over his shoulder at the other boy. "Is that part of being sick, too?"

"No," Davis said, shaking his head. "It's what's making you sick."

The Kaiser didn't like the way Davis was looking at him, the sound of his voice. The boy swallowed. "I'm not sick," he suddenly said, stubborn.

"There's a DigiEgg," Davis said with another shake of his head. "Here," he murmured, hands moving very gently across the stomach they'd been placed upon.

He trembled slightly, but forced a frown and grit his teeth. "That's stupid," the Kaiser growled.  
"If you say so," Davis sighed, shaking his head. "But I'm not lying."

"It doesn't even make sense," the Kaiser insisted. "DigiEggs don't come from inside anything, much less humans, and there's no possible way for it to be in there."

"But..." Davis started. "It's not just any DigiEgg. Millenniummon has... always been inside you."

The Kaiser frowned. "Millenniummon? No, Davis, don't you know anything? Millenniummon was destroyed nearly a decade ago. There was nothing left of him except for those spores, but I used the power of the spore to take control of Ken. That Digimon is gone."

"What happened to the spore after you used it, though?" Davis asked, frowning as well. "And why don't the collared Digimon listen to you anymore? And... who'd I talk to when I first got here?"

"Well, I still use it," the Kaiser tried to insist. "Without it, I won't exist. The Digimon... Their collars must be malfunctioning. I just have to fix them." Confusion finally washed over his features at the last question. "Davis, you talked to me, remember? You were waiting in the bedroom for me."

"Before that," Davis said, shaking his head. "I went into your throne room and you were there, but... you weren't you. He told me his plan... he wants to be reborn. To get out of you. And when he is, he wants to kill the human race and take over the real world. Then he had the Gazimon lead me to the bedroom."

Indigo eyes stared wide-eyed at Davis for a few minutes before he started laughing. "You were cooped up in the loony bin a little too long, Davis. I think you might have caught a little bit of the crazy from that place. None of that happened."

Davis exhaled, defeated. He'd known from the start that the Kaiser probably wasn't going to believe him. "Yes it did..." he sighed.

"Fine. If you're so sure of this, then how is the DigiEgg even growing inside me? In case you forgot, I'm a boy."

"I don't think that matters. It's an egg made of data," Davis said, lifting his hands and making a sphereical shape with them, as if the Kaiser didn't know what an egg looked like. "I don't know how Milleniummon works, but apparently any host is good enough for him. He's just... been inside of you for so long. As long as you've been around."

The Kaiser suddenly paled. "But I'll die!"

"Wh-what?" Davis asked, brown eyes widening. "Why do you say that? That won't... that won't happen."

"Yes it will!" he cried. "If Millenniummon is expelled from my body, then I will die, Davis!"

Davis was quiet for a moment, but after thinking for a while, he seemed to realize that that was the logical conclusion. "Then..." he swallowed, biting his lip slightly. "Millenniummon said that if we break his egg the process will just start over. Maybe you can just... smash it once in a while?"

The Kaiser frowned. "How? By having you kick me in the stomach every few days? That's a horrible idea, Davis!"

"Do you have a better idea?" Davis asked.

Now his breathing was starting to pick up. "How... How did this happen? I've always been in control!"

"I dunno," Davis said, shrugging his shoulders up around his ears.

"Oh my god! I'm going to die!" The Kaiser started crying, his hands in his hair, gripping hard. "I'm going to die!"

"There has to be something we can do!" Davis argued, grabbing the Kaiser's hands and trying to detangle them from his hair.

"This wasn't supposed to happen!" The Kaiser was suddenly clinging to Davis, his nails and fingers grabbing roughly at the boy's shirt and skin. "Everything was going to be perfect! We were going to start over! We were going to fall in love! I was always going to be with you!"

Davis gasped as the Kaiser's nails dug into his chest, wincing slightly, but finding himself far more concerned about the other boy who clung so desperately to him. "I.... I'm sorry," was all he could think so say.

"Aau... Aauuuh!" The Kaiser sobbed into the front of Davis's shirt. So, it was really going to be like this? He finally got Davis back, and now he was going to die. Fate was such a bitch.

Davis felt his mouth run dry, and cautiously wrapped his arms around the Kaiser's shoulders. "There... there has to be a way for us to fix this," he insisted quietly.

The Kaiser gasped back his sobs. "You... You really th-think there could be a w-way?"

"There has to be," Davis said. "And we need to do our best to figure it out... Nothing's impossible." He laughed, trying to be as encouraging as he could. "I mean, once Taichi told me a story about how this one Digimon, Apoclyamon, broke him and the others all down into little bite sized bits of data. If they could deal with that, there's gotta be a way to deal with Milllenniummon."

Slender fingers loosened their grip as the Kaiser nodded meekly. "If you believe we can, then... Then I believe too."

Davis smiled, nodding as well. "And I'll do whatever it takes to help. I don't want you to die," he murmured, lifting a hand to touch the side of the Kaiser's face. "Of course, stopping the human race from getting wiped out is a big plus, too," he added with a quiet laugh, trying to lighten the dismal look off of the other boy's face.

The Kaiser smiled weakly. "You... You want me over Ken?"

"I never knew Ken. I don't want you, or anyone, to die. I don't even know if Ken's still alive after all of this," Davis murmured, listing off the reasons. "And Millenniummon has to be stopped."

The Kaiser nodded. "We'll do it. We'll work together and put a stop to this. I'll be damned if some black speck gets the better of me."

A smile came across Davis' face, and he nodded as well. "That's the spirit."

"First, I have to figure out how this even happened. If I know how Millenniummon started, then I can find a way to stop him." The Kaiser threw back the sheets and stood. There was the slightest soft spot on his lower belly, but he wouldn't give it the time of day. "I'm getting dressed and then we're going to the lab."

"Alright," Davis said, also standing up with a nod. When the Kaiser was dressed and ready, Davis trotted after him. "What are you going to do to try and figure it out?" he asked curiously.

"I have to find out what he's doing inside me, of course," the Kaiser answered.

"...How?" Davis asked.

"Oh, a sample of this, a screening of that. I have a full lab set up already. You know, back from my experimental days." The Kaiser looked over his shoulder. "You were an excellent assistant; never once getting squeamish or anything. Hopefully you'll be just as useful now."

Davis knitted his eyebrows together confusedly. "We're not going to be doing anything that might make me squeamish now, will we?"

"How are you with blood?"

"Eh..." Davis shrugged his shoulders. "I can take it, I guess. I mean, I used to get bloodied up playing soccer a lot..."

"Surely you can draw blood using a syringe?" the Kaiser said.

"Using a what now?"

The pale boy sighed. "It's like a shot, only in reverse, Davis."

"Oh, okay," Davis said, nodding his head. "I know what you're talking about."

"Good, because I certainly can't do it one handed." They soon came upon a door that slid open automatically and then closed behind them. Slowly the lights clicked on and illuminated the room. The Kaiser frowned. "Why is it so dusty in here?" He set to wiping things down before getting started. "First things first," he said in pulled a long rubber strap from a drawer. "Tie my arm off just above my elbow." Davis seemed confused; that was never a part of shots. But he did as he was told, tying it loosely at first only to be scolded and told to do it tighter. Finally, he tied it correctly. "It has to be tight to obstruct the blood flow," the boy explained. "That way you can see my veins and get enough blood. Now here's the syringe. You know how this works, right? The needle goes under my skin and you pull back on the plunger until the tube is full, got it? All you have to do now is tap my arm a few times until enough blood gathers together so you can find a good vein."

"How do you know all of this stuff?" Davis asked quietly as he began to do as instructed, taking the syringe in one hand and tapping on the Kaiser's arm with the other.

"Reading," the Kaiser answered simply.

"Alright..." Davis said, finding a vein, or what he thought was one. It had to be, where all the blood was gathering, right? Nodding to himself, he tried to be as careful as possible as he pricked the Kaiser's skin and drew the blood from his arm.

A soft hiss was forced through his teeth, but the Kaiser remained still. Davis was doing a surprisingly good job. "When you pull it out, slide it slowly the same way you pushed it in. Do not, under any circumstances, angle it. I will hit you."

"O-okay," Davis said, taking a slight step back to ensure that he had space to pull it out exactly the way that it had been slid in.

The Kaiser sighed when the needle was removed. "Excellent job, Davis. I'm proud." A band-aid was put over the hole to stop the bleeding and the rubber strap pulled off. He then took the syringe from Davis so the blood could be distributed into three small dishes. He plucked two hairs from his head, also putting them in rectangular dishes. Everything was placed inside a machine where the samples were scanned and analyzed. "While it does that, we need to get internal images of my body," the Kaiser said.

"And how do we do that?" Davis asked, though he was obviously quite enthralled with watching the scanning machine work.

"I have to lie on this table here," the Kaiser explained as he walked to it. "I'll set everything up so your job can be as easy as possible. While I'm lying down, you need to move this scanner over me." The thing looked a lot like a light fixture on a dentist chair with its large face, easy to grip handles, and mobile neck. "The first time all you need to do is move it slowly down my body and then back up. The second time you will need to take still shots. See this red target light? It needs to stay centered on me the whole time. When you take a still shot, just hit this white button. Understand?"

"Yeah, I think I got it," Davis said with a nod. He gripped the handles, waiting for the Kaiser to lay down upon the table. He then did as he'd been instructed, moving the light slowly down, then up the Kaiser's body. The second time, he stopped every few inches and took a picture by hitting the small white button.

He got up when Davis was finished. "Good. See? It wasn't too hard. Now I have to wait until everything is finished analyzing. At that point I'll be able to work through the information and figure out exactly what is going on inside me." The Kaiser looked at the other boy. "It could take a few hours. You don't have to stay, if you don't want to."

"Are you just going to sit in here?" Davis asked, frowning slightly.

The Kaiser submitted a shrug. "There isn't much else I can do right now."

"Well... alright," Davis said, straightening up. Even though he didn't want to just leave the Kaiser staring at the machines, Pinamon and Chibimon needed attention too. "I'll be back in a few hours, then."

The pale boy raised one hand weakly after the other. "Davis..." he said, calling him to look back.

Davis stopped, looking over his shoulder with a quirked brow. "What?"

"I..." But it caught in his throat. Those two little words that were so much like poison on his tongue. He'd never had to say them before. Not genuinely. If he wasn't going to be around much longer, though... or so he told himself... the Kaiser decided he should at least share such a human sentiment with the one person he loved. "...Thank... Thank you..."

Davis just grinned, offering back a thumbs up; obviously not catching the Kaiser's struggle with his words. He just didn't understand what wasn't put right in front of him; even after all he'd been through. "No worries," he said, before he turned back around and headed out of the laboratory, towards Wormmon's room. The Kaiser made a thumbs up after Davis left. He stared at the gesture formed by his own hand. Was it really that simple? So what if it wasn't? Davis obviously had hope. Something the Kaiser needed a little more of. Hands resting on his legs, the boy took to watching the analysis proceed on the screen.


	30. The Ultimate Choice

"Davis! Davis!" Chibimon began hopping excitedly when the tan teen walked into the room. "Pinamon and I were talkin' and we have some ideas!"

"Yeah?" Davis asked, closing the door behind him and smiling as both of the Digimon approached him, Pinamon nodding affirmatively. "Well, lay it on me. What've you guys cooked up?" he asked, as he came to sit in front of them.

"Well, remember the room all the Puwamon eggs were in?" Chibimon inquired of his boy.

"Yeah, the freezer... what about it?"

"Hear us out," the little blue Digimon insisted. "What if we just keep the Kaiser in the freezer? If his body gets cold enough, I bet the egg won't grow!"

"What?!" Wormmon gasped in horror. He'd been snoozing in his nest, having not slept well lately, but that idea caught his attention. "You can't put Ken in a freezer! He'll die!"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go with Wormmon on that one. That'd probably do more harm than good."

"Well what if we put the egg in the freezer as soon as it gets laid?" Pinamon suggested. "Then it can't hatch!"

"I'd like to stop it before it even gets laid, Pinamon," Davis said. "We need an idea that will do that and not hurt Ken in the process."

"Is dead the same as hurt?" Chibimon ventured to ask carefully.

"Yes Chibimon. We don't want him dead either."

"Okay okay." Chibimon tapped his blue paw to his white chin. "What if... We get the egg out before it's done growing? An under-developed egg can't hatch, right? Then we take it and put it in the freezer!"

"How? We don't have the proper tools to do that," Pinamon said. "At least I don't think so... what's the Kaiser got?"

"Probably nothing very safe," Davis murmured.

"You probably have to keep Ken from even mutilating himself," warned Wormmon. "If he really does find out what's happening, he's going be mad."

Davis just nodded quietly. He didn't want to tell Wormmon that he'd already tried to explain to the Kaiser what was going on. Ken… the name that Wormmon called him echoed in his mind for a moment, and he idly wondered what would happen if none of their plans succeeded. Was the Kaiser right? If Milllenniummon was born, would the Kaiser die? Would Ken still be inside or would there be nothing left in that body? "Wormmon…" he started slowly, "Do you think… Ken's still alive?"

Wormmon looked up at Davis almost in disbelief. Did the boy really just ask him that? It would seem Davis still didn't understand everything. Wormmon bowed his head for a moment, silent, but then turned his eyes back up to the human. "Of course Ken is still alive. He always has been. Davis, who do you think it is that loves you?"

"Well..." Davis scratched at the back of his head, looking uncertain. "The Kaiser, I think. Aren't they... different?"

Wormmon settled down into his nest, looking something like a wise guru caterpillar. "Who is the Kaiser?"

"Well he's... Ken, but like, not really?" Davis asked rather than said. "I mean, he is Ken, but if it weren't for Millenniummon, there wouldn't be a Kaiser... right?"

The green Digimon just nodded. "Who is the strongest Digimon you ever met, Davis?"

Davis frowned slightly, looking confused. "Strongest one I ever met? Like, fought? Because any Digimon we ever fought Flamedramon and I were able to beat." He paused for a moment, touching his face with a bit more of a frown. "Well, except Deltamon..."

"All right, then think about this. If you were to somehow merge with Deltamon, would you become him?"

"I don't think so?" Davis answered, not sure what Wormmon was getting at.

Wormmon nodded again. He couldn't just give Davis the answer. The boy needed to understand it himself. "You would still be part you, right?"

"Right," Davis agreed. "But... The Kaiser and Ken are really different, aren't they?"

"Just wait," Wormmon urged. "If part of you still existed in that combined entity, don't you think that part of you would still be able to feel things?"

"Well, yeah, but... even if I did feel things, would I remember everything that I did as a combined..." He fumbled with the word a moment. "As a combined entity?"

"That is currently unknown, but that would not make you any less real. The Kaiser is made up of two parts, Davis. He is one part human and one part Digimon. Both those parts function together to make the Kaiser move, think, and feel." Wormmon's antenna twitched as he hoped this was making sense. "Love, compassion, loneliness, affection, fear, pain... The Kaiser has felt and expressed all of these things, right? Well that is the Ken part of him. That is Ken loving you, being afraid, getting hurt. Millenniummon can't feel those things. They are not in his nature. Cruelty, insanity, rage, control... The Kaiser exhibits these traits as well, correct? That is Millenniummon working through Ken. These two personalities working together create the Kaiser; however, each side is unaware of the other. Ken believes he is committing all these horrible acts and Millenniummon believes he is being weak in moments. The creature you saw when you came back here was the product of the human personality being dominated by the Digimon. Without you around, the human in the Kaiser has nothing to connect with. To reach out to. To embrace. It is at that point the Digimon can take over. Do you understand all of that?"

Davis had leaned forward, head in his hands and elbows on the knees of his crossed legs, listening intently to what Wormmon had to say. He'd never really had this explained to him, and suddenly, everything seemed a lot clearer. "Yeah, I think I get it now," Davis said with a nod. He then thought for a moment longer, and asked, "So the person in that body is either Millenniummon, Ken, or something in-between, and that's the Kaiser..." He scratched his chin as he continued to think. "So, if Millenniummon can overpower Ken and make the personality fully Digimon... can Ken do the same?" Wormmon shook his head sadly in reply. Davis continued to look thoughtful. "But... once Millenniummon's egg is out... isn't that what will happen?"

"Yes, once Millenniummon's conscience influence is gone, Ken will go back to being just Ken."

"Hm..." Davis leaned back on his hands now.

"What's on your mind, Davis?" Pinamon asked. Davis was quiet for another moment, but then let out a sigh.

"As great as that would be, if Millenniummon's egg grows fully, every human's gonna get wiped out anyway."

"You've been presented a complicated and dire ultimatum," Wormmon said.

"I don't know what I should do," Davis said with a long exhale. "I mean... even if Millenniummon was reborn, Ken and Ryo beat him once, right? He became the spores, but they still beat him," he observed. "So if I can get all of the chosen DigiEggs back to their kids, at least there will be some hope of someone who can fight back..."

"Davis, you haven't been listening," Wormmon sighed. "Millenniummon can't be defeated. He can't be beat. It is impossible."

"Nothing's impossible, Wormmon!" Davis insisted. "I don't care how impossible you think it is, I'm going to the best that I can to make sure everything turns out right."

"Then you have to find Ryo and kill him, too!"

Davis knit his brows together, looking confused. "What? What does he have to do with it?"

The green insect sighed. "At the sight of the original battle, Millenniummon said something... He and Ryo are connected. The Digital World chose those two for an eternal bond. As long as one exists, so does the other. Either they both live or they both die. Never mind locating Ryo between the infinite dimensions of this world, but could you really kill another human being?"

Davis looked crestfallen. He knew the answer to Wormmon's question immediately. No, he really couldn't. "But..." he began with a long exhale, "If he doesn't go, everyone goes..." He then groaned, pulling his hands through his spiked hair. "This is a huge mess."

"Davis, I don't want anyone to die either," Wormmon admitted, "but I have been watching Ken get consumed by this monster for too many years. All I want, regardless of anything else, is to see my boy free again. I don't care who Millenniummon possesses next. I just don't want it to be Ken anymore." He sighed again. "Unfortunately, I don't have the power to do any of that. All of this is up to you. Free Ken and risk the human race, or save the human race and keep Ken under Millenniummon's control. I'm sure you have some time to think about it. Choose what you think is right."

Davis also let out a sigh, but then narrowed his eyes slightly. "Hey, Wormmon... he said he'd possess someone else if his egg was shattered, right?"

Wormmon shook his head strangely. "If Millenniummon's egg is broken, then he is forced to start over inside Ken, remember?"

"He said that if we break it while it's inside him, it'll start over," Davis said with a nod. "But if the egg is outside of him and Ken is... let's say... taken back to the real world, and then the egg is smashed," he continued, making a smashing motion with his hands. "What would happen then?"

Wormmon contemplated this. "I suppose he would be forced back into his spore form and have to find a new host," he answered.

"And if there's only one human in the Digital World, they'd have to be the host, right?" Davis continued. "And Ken would be free in the human world."

The insect nodded. "Yes. Why?"

Red eyes suddenly went wide. "Davis, don't even think about it!" Chibimon squealed and jumped into the boy's lap.

"That's a bad idea!" Pinamon chimed in, shaking his head.

"I think it's the best idea I've had so far," Davis said, scratching at the back of his head. "If I get all of the DigiEggs back to the chosen kids, get Ken back to the real world, and become Millenniumon's new host... then no one will die, Ken will be free, and, let's be honest..." He laughed weekly, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm no Ken. I doubt even if I become like the Kaiser I'll be as much of a threat as he was."

"Yes, and then you will have Millenniummon's egg and no one will be here to stop it, thus ensuring the promise of destruction regardless of all your efforts," Wormmon said quite bluntly.

"But if he's forced back into his spore form won't it do that incubating thing it did where Ken slowly became the Kaiser? There'll be plenty of time!" Davis insisted. "He'll have to build himself up again from scratch. It'll buy them time, and that..." Davis let out another breath. "That seems like it'll be the best I can do. I don't know how to get rid of Millenniummon... so all I can do is buy more time."

"Time that won't mean anything," Wormmon insisted again. "Either is happens now or it happens in another twenty years. Davis, you have to keep Millenniummon out of the real world."

"If you get a better idea, Wormmon, tell me," Davis said as he took Chibimon out of his lap, placing the Digimon down on the floor and standing up. "Until then, this is the best I can come up with."

"Davis! Davis!" Chibimon chased after his boy and latched onto his leg. "Where are you going?"

"I want to see if my thinking spot's still there," Davis said, looking down at the Digimon halfway to the door. "And even if it's not... I still want to go think."

"I wouldn't recommend going outside," the green Digimon warned. "It's become quite dangerous. If you want to replicate your thinking place, I suggest visiting the Synthesizer Hall. You'll find it's just as good."

"Great," Davis huffed, nodding and turning back to the door. "I'll go there, then," he murmured as he swung the door open. He then cast a look down at Chibimon, wiggling his ankle slightly to try and get the Digmon to let go.

"Let me come with you," Chibimon insisted with a soft squeak. "I won't make a sound. I promise."

"Chibimon..." Davis groaned. "You have to promise you'll be quiet."

"I promise, promise, promise," Chibimon said. "Cross my heart. I just wanna be with you, Davis. That's all. Just the two of us." Davis leaned down and pried the Digimon off of his legs in order to hold him in his arms instead. He looked over his shoulder and offered Wormmon and Pinamon a nod before he edged out of the room, closing the door behind him. Chibimon was quiet while Davis carried him through the citadel. They had to stop and ask directions a couple of times, but soon found the Synthesizer Hall. Chibimon helped Davis program what he wanted and the long room they stood in took on the form of Odaiba water canal. Amazingly, the small blue Digimon remained silent even as his boy sat down and began to think about whatever it was he was thinking about. Davis sat down on the edge of the man-made river, looking out at the night sky reflected in the simulated ripples of the water. His face had become solemn and very difficult to read as he thought, and he spent a rather long time thinking, all with Chibimon sitting next to him. His mind was racing with thoughts of Millenniummon, the Kaiser, and the idea he'd proposed. The longer he thought about it, the more attractive it seemed. What did he have to go back to in the real world, anyway? If he went through with this, the chosen children could bring him down and the world would be safe. Ken would be free... Wormmon wouldn't have to worry anymore. That's when he looked over at Chibimon and frowned to himself. Would he become like Wormmon, though? Kicked around and depressingly loyal to someone who's love for him had been stripped away? It didn't seem fair. That's when he reached over to put the little blue Digimon in his lap, looking down at him and petting back his ears. Chibimon began to purr quietly in response to his ears being rubbed. Even though he'd had to beg for it, he was glad to finally have this time alone with Davis. He remembered back to their original days together. He remembered the first night Davis brought Chibimon home and he got to sleep in that big warm bed with the boy. Davis would sneak him ice cream after dinner and they would share while reading comics. Davis introduced him to soda and then laughed when Chibimon got the hiccups. Maybe he could have all of that back perfectly, but he would never come close again if Davis went through with this plan. Davis wouldn't be Davis ever again. That very thought brought tears to those big red eyes, but Chibimon rubbed them away, refusing to let his boy see. He'd promised to be good. To be quiet.

But Davis was watching him closely and saw the tiny tears. He frowned guiltily, picking Chibimon up and setting him on his chest as he lay on his back on the pavement. "Chibimon," he said quietly, his voice barely louder than the rippling water. "Chibimon, don't cry," he murmured, as he wiped away another of the Digimon's tears.

"But you're my partner," Chibimon sniffled just as quietly. "I don't want to lose you. I don't want you to be like the Kaiser. You shouldn't have to do this."

"I know, Chibimon..." Davis murmured, continuing to wipe away Chibimon's tears. "But for all the other chosen kids... for Ken... for the entire human race... I have to."

"But Davis... No one will win. Ever..."

"No one has to win," Davis said, looking up at the stars. "As long as innocent people don't lose."

"Should Ken really go back?" Chibimon asked.

"There's a lot to think about with that..." Davis admitted. "His parents are gone... And I don't know if I could convince any of the other kids to take him in," he murmured. "But on the other side, he's gone through so much. If Wormmon's right, he thinks he's been doing terrible things for years. He's been the Kaiser and has felt Millenniummon's grip on his heart for so long. And if he does go back... he and Wormmon can fill the place I leave, if the others will have him."

"What if he doesn't want to leave you?"

"I guess I can't stop him," Davis murmured. "But I don't know how long I'll put up with it. Eventually... I'll probably want the other kids out of the Digital World."

Chibimon looked up at Davis. "That never stopped them before."

"That's true. But I probably won't let him stay in the citadel... he'll have to go back some time. I just want to make sure that... if he does go back, he'll have somewhere to go." He tugged at his hair a bit in thought. "Maybe Taichi will agree to it... I mean, he's such an understanding leader, he put up with me, and I'm sure once Millenniummon's out of him Ken will be a fine house guest. Plus, I'll be bringing him Agumon when I go to ask..."

Chibimon just nuzzled back down against his boy's chest. "I don't know what to do."

"Neither do I, Chibimon," Davis sighed. "We're just going to have to do the best we can."

"I'm sorry I didn't save you, Davis, back then. None of this would have happened if I had been stronger. If I had tried harder to find you. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Chibimon," Davis said, laughing quietly as he pet back the Digimon's ears again. "How many times have we been like this?" he asked as he set his other hand behind his head. "More times than I can count, we hit a wall and you're always here to help me. And every time you apologize when you've done so much for me. We can't change the past, Chibimon. Stop dwelling on it," he murmured. "The only thing I ask of you... if to stick by me until I'm not me anymore."

Chibimon nodded. "And even after that," he replied.

"I don't expect you to stay after that," Davis murmured, laying his head back. "You deserve better than that, Chibimon. I would want you to go back with the others. Live with Taichi if he'd have you." He put his hand up before the Digimon could protest. "I know you'll probably insist on staying... And I know you probably will, too. But I just want you to know that I don't think you should stay."

"I know how you feel, Davis. But you're my boy and it's my choice," Chibimon said firmly. "Because if there ever came a day when you needed me, I have to be there."

Davis just smiled, nodding his head. "Yeah, I know, Chibimon," he said fondly. "And if that's how you feel, go for it. Just as long as you know."

"I know, Davis." Chibimon cuddled close again. "I know."

Davis fell quiet after that, going back to watching the stars with Chibimon cuddled up on his chest, his hand idly stroking his back. Eventually, the boy looked up to see that the Digimon had fallen asleep. He sat up carefully, taking Chibimon into his arms, and brought him back to Wormmon's room. Pinamon was asleep as well, and Davis wordlessly placed Chibimon beside the little bird Digimon before he left, heading back down to the laboratory to see what the Kaiser had done in the past few hours. The Kaiser was slumped back in his chair, arms hanging limply over the sides, and his pale face stared in disbelief up at the screen in front of him. To Davis, all the information flashing there probably looked like strange code made of numbers, letters, and other foreign symbols, but the Kaiser had read and analyzed all of it. Over and over again. Now he was left feeling shocked and even disgusted. Davis entered the room quietly, closing the door as quietly as he had closed Wormmon's door to not wake the sleeping. Here, he could have almost been fooled into thinking the Kaiser was asleep as well. He was so quiet, with only the whirrs of machines drifting through the air. He approached just as silently because of it, but leaning over the boy, he caught sight of his open eyes. "You okay?" he murmured.

"I'm a woman," the Kaiser breathed.

"What?" Davis asked, quirking a brow. "Why do you say that?"

"I'm a woman," the Kaiser breathed again. "He turned me into a woman."

"H-how?" Davis asked, still looking confused.

"He changed my DNA. He accessed it just like a code. It's the same as altering a program. Humans... Humans have code. DNA, right? DNA is human code." The Kaiser's eyes were still wide, staring straight at the screen. "Every human starts off female. Every single one. Each human code begins with two X's. Replacing one of those X's with a Y makes us male. Millenniummon figured that out. He... He changed my Y back into an X." One pale slender finger reached up to hit a key. All the flashing letters and numbers blinked, vanishing, and then an outline of the Kaiser appeared. Within the human figure were internal organs normal for any human. But... There were female parts. And within them... A DigiEgg.

Davis narrowed his eyes at the screen, raising an eyebrow. He was about to argue that none of that made any sense, but he reminded himself that this was the Digital World. Trying to make sense of it was going to make him pull his hair out. He rested his elbow on the back of the chair and nodded his head a bit numbly. "Yeah... I told you," he sighed, gesturing at the image on the screen. "That's how he plans to come back." The Kaiser was silent as he stood. He swiped his hand over the screen and everything turned off. Shifting his feet, he walked slowly out of the laboratory. Instead of going to his room, like Davis probably thought he was, the Kaiser took a different route. Soon enough he was climbing what seemed like an endless flight of spiraling stairs go up higher and higher. One lone door sat at the top of the stairs. With a heavy click it creaked open to reveal the roof of the citadel. A flash of lightening and a nearly deafening clap of thunder greeted the pale human as he stepped outside. Rain fell in sheets, immediately soaking him to the bone. Under normal circumstances, the Kaiser might have been wondering why the hell it was raining in a world where it never rained. But right now he didn't care.

Davis had followed, his expression going from downtrodden to curious when the Kaiser veered off the expected path. He followed him at the slow pace he set, hands folded behind his back with a small concerned frown on his face. He hesitated a moment when the Kaiser stepped out into the pouring rain, but soon enough followed after him, until they were both standing on the edge, overlooking a world they'd once both looked upon with pride. Water had filled the desert basin, creating a flood that was washing away the desolate world the Kaiser had worked so hard to create. Rain usually brought life, spurring on the growth of forests and foliage. But looking down at the Digital World below, there was just a drowning constriction, nothing but a churning ocean that was rising angrily as the rain continued to fall. Indigo eyes looked down at the raging current through water droplets that gathered and fell from dark lashes. Even his hair was growing too heavy with water and began to hang in his face. So... Everything had come to this? His perfect barren paradise was to be washed away in a storm that shouldn't even exist. Just like the Kaiser himself was to be overrun by a Digimon that should be dead. The very thought made rage clamp his throat. His fingers curled into fists. What? He'd served his purpose? He'd outlived his usefulness? Absurd! The Kaiser wasn't a tool. He was a creator! He was a god! There was no possible way he was so fragile mortal as to die with the mere birth of an egg. "He can't have me," the boy murmured before letting himself slowly lean forward, numbing himself for the endless plunge into a icy, wet grave.

Davis watched, only to reach forward and grab his wrist. He swallowed, his throat dry even as water poured down his tanned face. "There has to be a better way," he murmured, tugging gently on the other boy's arm.

"I don't see one," the Kaiser replied while continuing to let his weight pull forward against Davis' grasp.

"I'm not letting you go," Davis said. "If you go, I'm coming with you."

"...Why?"

"You deserve better than to throw your life away with nothing left. At least this way..." He swallowed dryly again. "At least this way you'd have me, right?"

"Romeo and Juliet..."

"Turned out well, didn't it?"

The Kaiser couldn't help the small laugh that puffed out from between his lips. "Didn't you ever read Shakespeare, Davis?"

"No..." Davis said with a small pout. "Books weren't my thing."

The Kaiser finally lifted his gaze away from the water to look at the boy he loved. "They both died so they could be in love together."

"Is that what you want?" Davis asked.

"All I ever wanted was love." Davis felt rain drops roll down his face like sweat. His other hand reached out, offering the Kaiser his arms, or the drop below. The waves crashed against the side of his indestructible palace, the sheer force of which sent a rumble sound up the metal walls that mixed with the thunder overhead. Looking back at the water, the Kaiser realized now how dark it was. Grey foam against black ripples. The Dark Ocean. It had come for him. It had come to reclaim him. How poetic. To die in the very water where he was born. He could almost hear it calling his name. His true name. The one no one else knew. A name that could only be pronounced by the waves. Only then he felt a touch of warmth that broke the feeling of ice forming on his skin. Warm brown fingers that stroked his cheek and beckoned for his attention. The Kaiser decided to look back once more, to see what he could have if he chose to stay. What he saw was the body of a boy he'd broken a thousand times, yet still came back to him. Just for him. While the waves promised a return to what he might call home, this other body promised warmth and embrace. The water wouldn't love him. Only wrap him in cold and hold him in eternal sleep. Davis... Davis would love him forever. One step and then another moved the Kaiser into the arms being offered to him, which he then fell into with a heavy and very human heart.

Davis felt his breath return to him in one deep, relieved intake. His arms closed around the Kaiser, wrapping around him and holding him closely. He bowed his head against the rain, closing eyes that had itched to as the icy cold drops stung at them, burying his face into the crook of the Kaiser's neck. The Kaiser had gotten so close to letting go. Davis had worried the boy was really going to do it. The Kaiser's cruelty once didn't know these bounds. He would have leapt into lava if it would have meant taking Davis with him. Given the opportunity many years ago, he would have snatched it with a twisted grin and a gleam in his eyes. But now, Davis was holding him closely, slowly moving feet, like a waltz, taking them away from the edge. He pressed his lips against the Kaiser's ear, meeting soaking hair until he moved it all away to speak against the pale skin. "I'm going to set you free," he said in a whisper that just barely made itself heard over the rain. Seeing the Kaiser make his ultimate choice had helped him make his. "I promise."


	31. Bringing Botamon Back

The Kaiser tried to go on being normal, but he wasn't so sure what that was anymore. Without the Digital World at his command, he didn't know what to do with his time. Luckily he and Davis learned to speak again. The Kaiser would actually get options and poignant thoughts from the other boy at times. It was nice. Davis would also hold his hand and give him a kiss on the cheek when he least expected it. Loose clothing that the Kaiser could never be imagined wearing began appearing on his body after about a week. Just because Davis knew what was happening didn't mean he had to see it. The Kaiser was far too mortified anyway. Today they were sitting and playing a game of Chinese Checkers. Chess had proved too difficult while regular Checkers was too easy for Davis, but luckily they found this nice medium. "You've been very good lately, Davis," the pale boy said with eyes trained on his own blue pieces.

Davis was waiting for the Kaiser to make his move, tugging idly on his bangs. He looked across at the Kaiser when he spoke with a confused expression at first, not having expected to hear him speak. The other boy was usually very silent and concentrated when they played games and didn't like to talk. But nonetheless, Davis smiled at the comment. "Yeah?"

The Kaiser nodded. "Yes." He picked up a blue marble and managed to jump two of Davis' pieces, getting him that much closer to his base. "Such good behavior merits a reward. A reward we negotiated upon some time ago, if you recall."

Davis had to think about it for a moment, his face falling into a pensive frown as he looked at his pieces and made his own move, taking far less time to decide upon it than the Kaiser did. But finally, after another moment of thought, a grin spread across his face. "Of course I remember," Davis said with a nod.

"You may choose one and take the afternoon to return the egg to its respective child," the Kaiser said. Indigo eyes glanced up, though. "Should you fail to return, Davis, Chibimon will take its place. Am I clear?"

"Crystal," Davis said with another nod. "I'll be back before the day's through."

"Excellent." The Kaiser picked up his last remaining marble and jumped a path over Davis' marbles to his base on the other side of the board. "I win. The game is over."

"Man," Davis groaned, scratching his head. "I never win at this. I'll get it one day."

The Kaiser nodded with a faint smile. "You will with practice."

"You bet," Davis said with a grin, jumping to his feet with a determined pump of his fist. "One day I'm gonna be good enough at this to win with my eyes closed."

The pale boy allowed himself a laugh. "Yes, I suppose you will." The Kaiser stood up as well and began leading the way to the coveted trophy room. "Do you know which one you're going to choose, Davis?"

"Yup," Davis said as he trotted alongside the Kaiser. "I made a promise to bring back Agumon first."

"Very well." The door opened for them. The case in the middle of the room was lit up with artificial bulbs since the window was now covered in dark water. A few stroke of the hidden keys and the glass de-materialized. Davis crouched down in front of the case, looking down the row of eggs. He couldn't help feeling a little guilty only taking them back one by one, but he knew trying to negotiate to bring them back all at once would probably not fare very well. He reached towards the center and picked up the egg he knew was Agumon's. The designs on the shell were enough to tell him. He cradled the egg in his arms and stood up, turning around to face the Kaiser against as the glass reformed around the rest of the eggs. He let out a breath, convincing himself in his mind that he would definately have enough time for all of them. Paitence was very important here. The Kaiser stood opposite from Davis. His skinny body was hidden beneath the folds of his baggy black clothing. Even his hands disappeared inside the draping sleeves. Only his pale face remained visible, revealed even more thanks to his hair being pulled back in its usual tight manner. "You have until midnight," he said. "I will accept the passage of time dictated by the real world. It is 1:34 PM there now. Come back through the gate at 11:59 PM."

"Alright," Davis said, bowing his head a bit. "I'll be back." He then turned and quickly began his way down the hall. He stopped by the bedroom to grab his bag, in which he hid the egg. Carrying a giant egg around Odaiba just didn't sound like the best idea. He also grabbed a hooded sweatshirt, just in case. Maybe someone would recognize him from the trial and try to send him back to the ward or something. He just wanted to get to Taichi's with minimal complications. He met the Kaiser back in the room with the gate, and had soon passed through and was heading through the park towards Taichi's apartment building, hood up and head low.

The Kaiser sighed as Davis vanished into the real world once more. There were far less doubts this time about the boy actually returning, but nothing was set in stone. The Kaiser came out of the transport room only to be met by a gang of Gazimon. "What do you want?" he sighed at them. One Gazimon merely pointed at his stomach and then down the hall. The Kaiser nodded and went with them.

Taichi was just about to sit down for homework when he heard a knock at his door. Weird... Yamato was currently at the recording studio and Kari was away on an overnight fieldtrip. Who would be here now? The young man got up regardless. The door only opened enough for the chain lock as one brown eye peered out at the strange hooded figure. "Can I help you?"

Davis pulled back his hood now, looking up at what he could see of the other through the crack of the door. "I have something for you," he said simply, offering a sort of sheepish smile.

"Davis!" Taichi closed the door and immediately opened it again to allow the boy entrance. "Come in! Come in!" He closed the door behind them. "You look great."

"Thanks," the boy said, nodding his head and taking off his shoes as he stepped inside. "Almost a year of not getting the hell beaten out of me did me well," he said with a quiet laugh. "How've you been?"

"I've been great. Still chugging away for those A's and B's. My little league team won their third game in a row last weekend."

"Congrats," Davis said, grinning. It was nice to hear that things had pretty much gone back to normal after he'd left. Like he'd just been passing through. "I've got a gift for you," he said, gesturing towards the living room before he went to sit himself on the sofa.

"A gift?" Taichi followed the other into the living room and sat next to the boy.

Davis removed his bag from his shoulder, carefully placing it in Taichi's lap. He laughed slightly when the other just stared at it for a moment. "Go on," he said, gesturing to the drawstrings.

Tai fiddled with the bag to get it open. Once he saw what was inside, he froze. "No way..."

"I told you I'd bring him back," Davis said with a smile. After just a few short moments of sitting in Taichi's lap, the DigiEgg began to glow. With a few small crackles, the top half of the shell fell to the floor, and inside was a small, furry, black Digimon with big golden eyes that looked up at Taichi and immediately began to purr.

Taichi looked back down at the baby Digimon with tears in his own brown eyes. "Hi... Botamon..." He picked up the tiny black bundle and nuzzled it to his cheek. "Long time no see, buddy. Wow... Wow... Davis, thank you so much."

Davis shook his head, still smiling. Botamon continued to purr happily, a tiny pink tongue coming out to lick Taichi's cheek. When the boy pulled him away from his face, Botamon was all fluffed up, his little ears twitching. "I missed you, Taichi!" he squeaked happily.

Taichi managed a laugh, choking between tears. "I missed you, too. Way more than you know."

"It's okay now, Taichi! This time, I'm gonna stay right here with you!" Botamon insisted, wiggling cutely in the brunet's palms.

The young man nodded. "Yeah, yeah, you are. I'll make sure of it, too. You'll be with me all the time, Botamon. School... Work... Everywhere." He laughed. "Even the bathroom."

"You don't have to go that far, Taichi," Botamon said with a high-pitched squeak of a laugh. After his laugh, he turned to bow as much as he could to Davis. "Thank you, Davis."

"You're welcome," Davis responded, still grinning. The reunion what was he'd been aching to be able to give to Taichi in return for all of his hospitality. "I'm glad my plan worked," he said, as he reached over to scratch a bit behind Botamon's ears, making the baby Digimon giggle. "Eventually I'll have all of the Digimon back where they belong."

"And you'll be back where you belong," Taichi insisted. "With me."

Davis glanced down for a moment, then up at Taichi. "I'd wanted to talk to you about that, actually..."

Tai just shook his head. "No argument. You'll stay here with me. I don't mind. Forget school. You can coach soccer with me."

"No, I..." Davis let out a long sigh. There was such a lengthy back-story to his reasoning. "The Digital World is really different now," he started. "Everything's changing. A Digimon called Millenniummon, that used to live into Ken Ichijouji and made him turn into the Kaiser, is trying to be reborn." So many details had to be skipped, but Davis just wanted to make it as straightforward as possible. "Once he's reborn... Ken won't be the Kaiser anymore. He'll be the kid he was before this whole Kaiser thing began. He can finally go back to being a normal kid, and his Digimon won't have to watch him suffer anymore. The only problem is... his parents are both dead... so he has nowhere to live aside from the Digital World. But staying there will only cause him more pain. Still, someone needs to stay behind to make sure Millenniummon can't be completely reborn. So..." He swallowed dryly. "I won't be coming back once the chosen Digimon are home. I wanted to ask if you would take in Ken instead."

Tacihi was silent while listening to Davis talk through what was happening, his plan. "Davis, that sounds a bit rash. If you just get all the chosen Digimon back to us before Millenniummon is reborn, we can come up with something. We've fought against and beaten the baddest of the baddies before. We can do it again. We just need our Digimon and a plan. Both you and Ken will live with me. That's the goal here, okay?"

"That can be the goal, sure," Davis said, nodding in agreement. "But... if something goes wrong, I just want to be sure that my backup is okay," he murmured.

"Ken is a Chosen Child," Taichi said. It was all that needed to be said.

Davis smiled, nodding again, content with Taichi's answer. "You're great, man," he said, offering his hand.

"Took you this long to figure that out?" the older teen said with a joke and shook Davis' hand.

Davis laughed, shaking Taichi's hand before leaning back on the couch. "I don't wanna hang around if you're busy, but I have until midnight before I have to go back," he said.

"Oh yeah?" Taichi got up, holding Botamon in his hand, and moved to the kitchen. "I thought the Kaiser would have a tighter leash on you than that." He poured some milk into a cup and then fetched an eyedropper from the first-aid kit in the bathroom. Sitting back on the couch, Taichi proceeded to feed Botamon. "Especially with the way it sounds things are going over there."

"He's just glad I'm back," Davis murmured, watching as Botamon hungrily began to suckle the milk out of the dropper. "And besides, he knows I wouldn't leave Chibimon and Pinamon behind."

Brown eyes watched the boy closely. "And how do you feel to be back?"

"Well... it's weird," Davis said, rolling his head back. "I mean... the Kaiser's not as crazy as he used to be. He doesn't hit me or yell at me, really. But its such a stressful circumstance that it's hard to enjoy."

"How does it feel being with him?"

"It's less weird than before... less confusion going on. I'm trying to make him happy so that he'll give me the DigiEggs. I do what he says, he gives me the eggs. That's how it works." Taichi didn't smile or speak. He just nodded and looked down at Botamon, making sure his Digimon was fairing all right. Botamon's eyes were closed and his ears were wiggling as he sucked down the milk hungrily. Several years in an egg would do that.

Tai just had to shake his head now and laugh in a tired fashion. "I thought you'd be better than that by now."

"What do you mean?" Davis asked. Botamon also stopped drinking and opened his big gold eyes, thinking the boy might have been talking to him.

"Not you, Botamon. You're fine." Taichi turned his eyes back on Davis. "That's really how you're going to accomplish things? Using people?"

"I told him the whole deal and he agreed! It's not using him," Davis said with a frown. "I could never get him to give them to me otherwise."

"Do you even like the kid, Davis?"

"Of course I like him," Davis said with a frown. "If I really hated him I wouldn't be doing it this way." He pulled at his bangs a bit as he continued to speak. "I wouldn't care if he died, either... But I just want everything to work out. I want him to come out of this alive and with a chance at life again. But he wouldn't see reason and give me the DigiEggs before, so I knew I had to go back with a deal to strike."

Taichi leaned back on the couch. "He still in love with you?"

"Mhm," Davis said, nodding. "Very much so. I was expecting him to be angry with me when I first got back, but... he was just so happy..."

"But do you love him?"

"Maybe I do," Davis breathed quietly. "He's such a mystery, y'know? I never know how to feel about him."

"That's not good enough, Davis," the young man finally said. "He probably thinks you love him as much as he loves you. If you don't, if you're not even sure, then all you are right now is a whore. And yeah, it's a really horrible word on you, but it's what you are. You've had sex with him, right? Don't lie. People always change after their first time. Something is different about them. You're different." Taichi sighed. He didn't want to sound angry, but he just didn't think Davis was going about this the right way. "You're over there trading affection for those eggs, and it's wrong. You know that."

"And what am I supposed to do?" Davis asked, sounding put off by Taichi's words. "Sit around twiddling my thumbs, not get the chosen Digimon back, watch Millenniummon take over the world and kill the whole human race, just because I realized my plan of action isn't perfectly right?" He sighed, putting his hands behind his head. "I know it's not right, but I don't have time anymore. I can't wait until I'm sure of my feelings. I need to dive in head-first or else everyone is going to be destroyed and none of us will have the means to even try and stop it."

"Davis, look at me."

Davis sighed gently, turning his head to cast his eyes upon the other. "Yeah?"

"Look, fooling the Kaiser, not knowing yourself, none of that is going to help anybody. There will be time if you make time. Davis, you have to understand that if your heart isn't in something, it won't work. This plan sounds like it will work, but when the big moment comes and you haven't been truly committed to even the smallest part of it, everything will go wrong." Taichi spoke his words softly and wisely, from one generation to the next. "If you don't really love the Kaiser, then when it comes to making this big sacrifice for him, you won't want to do it. You won't, and you know it. You have to give your heart the attention it deserves, Davis. Talk to the Kaiser. Sit down with him, listen to him, touch him, smell him, hear him, learn him, know him. Yes, it's rough, but love isn't all butterfly wings and puppy dog kisses. Love is the easy times along with the hard times. Sometimes you fight and yell and hurt each other, but that doesn't mean the love isn't there. You have to know for sure, Davis. If you don't know anything, then you have nothing."

Davis listened to the lecture while staring at his hands, which grappled with each other in his lap. He felt like a little kid when Taichi talked to him like this. "Maybe I do know, but I don't want to talk about it," he said. "Not everyone is perfectly happy talking about their love lives with dying dictators, Taichi." Brown eyes wavered slightly, and then glanced up at the other boy. "I almost got pulled over the edge of the citadel roof yesterday, because I wouldn't let him kill himself alone. So… you tell me."

"I don't have to know details, Davis. All I need to hear is the admission. Saying it out loud can make a feeling that much more real." Taichi smiled slightly at the boy. "Say it to me and say it to yourself. I'll admit that I didn't know everything all the time, but I sure as hell pretended like I did. I would reach a point where I knew for sure, though. You can't go into anything undecided. Even if it's at the last minute, make a decision. It sounds like you'll be able to now."

Davis let out a long, tired sigh, nodding his head in understanding, though not completely enthralled acceptance. "I love him," he murmured, rubbing his hand across his forehead as he spoke. "And I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure he gets out of this safely."

"Good," Taichi said with a firm nod. "Now, if you want my advice, find out how Millenniummon was forced to decompose the first time and do it again only in an empty room where he can't get access to any living being while you haul ass."

"Last time, he was beaten by Ken and this other Digidestined named Ryo," Davis said with a frown. "And apparently Millenniummon and Ryo have this weird ying-yang thing going on where they either both live or both die. So without him, there's really not a lot we can do besides either let him hatch or put him in a new host."

Taichi shrugged. "Get him to spore..ify again. If Millenniummon is in his spore form, he can't go back to normal, right? So make him get all spore-y again and catch him in a jar like evil fireflies," he said with a grin.

"I... guess I could try that," Davis said, frowning and scratching his chin. "But what if I miss one? Or if he can break the jar? I mean, if he can get inside people, he can probably break a jar..."

"Bugs can crawl under people's skin, but they can't penetrate a glass jar. Take the jar and put it in an air-tight metal room and lock it or something."

"We could try that..." Davis said, still scratching at his chin, idly noticing that he was in need of a bit of a shave. That was new. "I'll have to ask Ken if he thinks that'd work when I get back." He laughed slightly, turning to look at Taichi. "It's goot to have someone else's input. Chibimon, Pinamon, Wormmon and I always end up just going in circles when we try and think up new ideas."

Taichi chuckled. "Five heads are always better than four."

"Chibimon's ideas always revolve around crazy stuff like freezing the Kaiser, and Pinamon's too meek to really come up with anything groundbreaking. Plus, Wormmon would gladly let the whole human race die out if it meant Ken would be set free, so he's really not the best one to turn to when it comes to ideas, either." Davis let out a long breath, before laughing and offering up a grin. "I'm not the best at coming up with safe ideas, either, so I guess the lot of us together is just not really a dream team."

Tai raised an eyebrow and cocked his head back. "Chibimon thought of that, really?"

"He figured that if he was in a freezer, the egg would stop growing. Which I guess is true, but... it's obviously not a good idea. Like, at all."

"Chibimon sure does think in extremes, huh?" Tai laughed.

"Mhm," Davis hummed fondly with his own snicker. This was when Botamon finally let go of the eyedropper and gave a contented sigh, closing his eyes, content with having drank his fill of milk. He opened one of his eyes slightly only to jump out of Taichi's hand and instead into his lap, where he promptly settled into so he could close his eyes again.

Taichi smiled at his tiny Digimon. That empty hole in his heart was now flooding over with warmth. He'd honestly never wanted anything more than to have his best friend back. Taichi would have given up soccer to have Agumon back. Taichi would have given up anything for Agumon back. Now, thanks to Davis, he didn't have to think like that anymore. "You've done amazing things working on your own, Davis. I have the faith that you can do this. I didn't pass on my goggles to you for nothing."

"When I first started, all I wanted to do was make sure you didn't regret giving me these," Davis said as he reached up to delicately touch the goggles that rested on his head. "That you'd be proud of me."

Taichi cast a quiet, knowing glance upon the teenager next to him. He didn't know what to expect five years ago when the Digital World blessed Daisuke Motomiya with the Digimental of Courage, but he believed in fate and put his trust in the boy with the bomber jacket. Not once did he ever look back wishing he'd done otherwise. "Taking those goggles back would be a crime."

Finally, Davis' seemingly cool and annoyed demeanor shattered as he cracked a huge grin. "Good, because I plan on keeping them for the rest of my life. Even if I stop wearing them, I'm gonna like, keep them under my pillow or something."

"You better watch out," Taichi warned. "The goggle fairy might come and take them, and she doesn't know that my goggles don't have a price." Davis at once broke down into a fit of giggles at that, even if it wasn't particularly funny. He just suddenly felt so much better, like a weight had been taken off of his shoulders and his heart. The laughter was contagious as Tai broke down into his own fit of chuckles and snickers. Yes, his humor was absolutely dreadful, but everyone loved it. You couldn't hate Taichi because he made you crack a smile. He was pretty sure it was why Yamato hadn't dumped him yet. "See? This is important, too. Laugh, Davis. Laugh. You can't get swept up in the seriousness. Yeah, the fate of the world is at stake, but it will drag you down if you can't laugh at just one thing."

"You're right," Davis agreed, suddenly turning to sprawl out on the couch. He laid his head down next to Taichi's thigh and let his legs dangle over the armrest. "It's just so gloomy in the Digital World right now. I haven't really had fun since I got back."

"Oh?" Brown eyes looked down at the upside-down face looking back up at him. "What happened to Digital Odaiba with its cheeseburgers and arcades?"

"It's underwater," Davis said with a pout. "Once Millenniummon came back, a storm started. And it's been raining ever since. We can't go outside anymore, the whole place is flooded."

"Rain?" A series of very foreign lines suddenly creased the young man's forehead; lines no one probably knew had formed. "Are you sure? The Digital World doesn't get rain. Maybe you're over the ocean."

"No, it's definitely rain. We were confused at first, too. The Kaiser made the Digital World a total desert, but Millenniummon wants to get rid of what he did. So it was probably him who made the rain start."

"What's it matter to Millenniummon?"

"I dunno, he's a dick," Davis huffed. "He's very anti-human. So I guess that anything that the Kaiser, a human, decided to do has gotta go."

Taichi nodded, though he wasn't so sure that sounded right. "Seems like a waste of all the Kaiser's hard work."

"That's just it," Davis said with a nod. "That's exactly what it is. That desert Digital World may not have been too great, but now it's all flooded. You can't even go outside. So I guess that's even worse."

"The rings are gone too, huh?"

"Actually... the Gazimon in the citadel are still ringed," Davis said with a bit of a frown.

Taichi couldn't help a tiny grin. "But a human did that. Don't they 'gotta go'?"

"Now you're just messing with me," Davis laughed as he looked up at the other boy. "I dunno... maybe, subconsciously, they were Millenniummon's idea in the first place?"

"That ya go," Tai congratulated. "I think everything was Millenniummon's idea. The rain could be a response to the extreme unbalance of power. Weird stuff happens in the Digital World when too much good or bad happens."

Davis thought about this for a moment, before nodding a bit. "That makes sense... Millenniummon's still a dick, though," he added as he put his hands behind his head.

"No argument there."

It was then that Botamon hiccupped in the middle of his purring in his sleep, only to wiggle around a bit and then go back to his deep sleep. Davis smiled, but then sighed slightly. "It's hard to only bring them back one at a time. I don't know how I'm going to pick the second one."

Taichi nodded, but he sighed when he said, "I'm too biased to help you with that decision. Just pick whichever one you think should come back next."

"I know it's sort of messed up, but I guess I'm going to have to break it down by usefulness... I mean, ours could armor Digivolve, right? And if the towers are still standing, the originals won't be able to Digivolve. So I should probably try and get all of them back first..."

"Just pick whichever one you think should come back next," Taichi said again.

Davis sighed again and nodded. Taichi obviously didn't want to talk about it. "I only get a day to come into the real world, though, and I don't know where everyone lives... so would you mind if I kept coming here and had you call them over?"

"Of course. If you bring back an egg for someone not in the area, I'll deliver it for you, no problem. Especially since some people are overseas right now."

"Is Izzy back in America, or is it just Mimi?" Davis asked.

The older brunet grinned. "Izzy is going to college in America. University of Denver."

"In Colorado?" Davis asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why there?"

The grin widened. "Because his exotically exquisite American lover lives there."

"Oh really?" Davis murmured with a grin. "I'm sure he's having a good time, then."

"Boyfriend."

"Really?" Davis repeated, looking a little surprised. "I didn't know he swung that way, too."

"Get this..." Taichi emphasized with a raise of his finger. "Our dear friend Izzy swings both ways."

"Both ways? I never pegged him for the type to even look at anything besides his laptop," Davis said with a laugh. "To think he checks out guys and girls. Who knew."

"Ah, yes, sweet little Izzy. And it all started with a jealous, albiet confused heart between Mimi and Joe," he explained.

Davis suddenly turned over onto his stomach, crossing his arms on Taichi's thigh and laying his chin on his overlapped hands. "This sounds like an interesting story," he said with a grin as he got comfortable.

Taichi nodded. "It's a magical tale full of geeks, laptops, and cultural obsessions," he began in a mocking whitsful voice. "Way back in the day, when we first went to the Digital World, Joe started to get the awkward hots for Mimi, who in turn got a bubbly pink cutie crush on him. Poor Izzy didn't like seeing them together, but deep down he didn't know who he was jealous of. Pegging himself for an ordinary boy, Izzy thought he didn't like seeing Mimi with Joe. She was so pretty and sweet, after all. Who wouldn't want her as a girlfriend? Time went on, though, and poor Izzy found himself drawn equally to Joe. Now, surely it was only because they had so much in common, what with being dorks and all. However, our beloved redhead soon discovered his feelings ran far deeper. Unfortunately, that is where he kept them. Deep, deep down inside. Then Izzy met an American girl online. She was brilliant and already in college at the age of twelve and loved computers. What a catch!" Taichi swept his hand through the air. "Then came the most magical of days when his online American girlfriend came to Japan for a school project. Finally! He would prove all of us wrong and show that he too could get a girl. But wait! What's this? An American boy has come to see him bearing the screen name of DenverTwins, the same as the girl. Surely this can't be! Oh, but it is. And through many awkward trials, most of them made worse by yours truly, they now live happily ever after."

Davis listened to the story intently, his brown eyes wide as he listened and even jumping to watch Taichi's grandiose gesticulations. When the story was through, he flipped back onto his back so that he could clap his hands wildly to applaud the story. "You are a natural born storyteller," Davis praised.

"Aren't I though?" Taichi said with a grin from ear to ear. "Now they live in the Colorado Mountains and have weird geek sex between term papers."

"Sounds like a happy ending to me," Davis sighed. "I was sort of in a similar situation… I just hope my story ends up all right, too."

"It will," Taichi said reassuringly. "Heroes always get happy endings to their stories. They earn it with all the crap they go through."

"You're right," Davis said, smiling and laughing. "I definitely deserve a happy ending by now."

Taichi smiled. "See? The universe gives us what it owes us. Good guys always get the girl, too, or in our case, the boy. Just do what you have to do, Davis. Everything will fall into place, you'll see."

"You're right, Taichi," Davis said with a nod. "You're right." He stayed there as long as he was allowed. He talked with Taichi most of the time, and sat down to dinner with him. However, as the night was getting long, he looked over at the clock and let out a long breath. "I should probably head back. I need to be at the gate before midnight."

"I understand. Things to go, places to do," he said with a laugh. "You're doing a great job, Davis. Now give me a hug before you run off."

Davis grinned, throwing his arms around the other boy's chest and hugging himself to his idol closely. "This is a lot better than our last one..." he laughed weakly against Taichi's chest.

Taichi smiled warmly and hugged the younger boy back. "Yeah, forget about that one, though. Everything got really crazy then, and we were both pretty shaken up. Remember this one instead."

"Mm... yeah," Davis said with a small nod, eyes closed and smiling. "Yeah, I will."

They held onto each other for a few moments longer before Taichi gave Davis a gentle push back. "All right, all right, enough of this. You need to get back. I'll see you soon enough anyways."

"Yeah," Davis said with a meek laugh, pulling his arms back and scratching at the back of his head. He grabbed his now empty bag and slung it over his shoulder before heading to the door. "See you later, Taichi!"

"Bye, Davis! I'm proud of you! So keep up the good work!" Tai called back at him and waved as the boy left.


	32. Pieces of the Puzzle

Once he was out of the apartment, Davis put his hood back up and headed back towards the alley. It felt sort of uncomfortable for the boy to hang out in this alley with his face hidden by the hood, waiting for the time to be right, but he didn't have too much of a choice. Finally, it was 11:59, and the digital gate opened. Davis tapped the bracelet that allowed him to pass through the gate on the bricks, and passed through the gate, waiting to make sure it closed behind him before he started off in search of the Kaiser.

The walls echoed with pained snarls and human screaming accompanied by the sharp cracking sound. "Give us the whip!"

"No!"

"We don't want to hurt you, but we will."

"Don't you touch me! Come near me again and you'll be the next egg I add to my collection!"

"Don't make us call the Apemon!"

"Go ahead! Do it! I'm not afraid of them either!"

Davis' eyes suddenly went wide when he heard the voices. "What the hell?" he breathed, before suddenly breaking into a run, heading towards the sounds.

"Not another step or I swear to God I will tear the fur from your hides." The door to the lab slid open. As the Kaiser backed out of the room, he bumped into Davis who seemed to have just shown up there. The Kaiser turned and in a flash his hand smacked the other boy across the cheek, his nails leaving blood marks over the bone. "You told them where this room was, didn't you?!"

Davis yelped, his eyes going wide as his hand at once came to hold his face where the Kaiser had hit him. "What?! N-no, I didn't tell anyone anything!"

"Then how did they know the lab was here?!" the Kaiser shrieked.

"How should I know?!" Davis cried, rubbing the side of his face, which was quickly turning red. "Whoever told them, it wasn't me!"

"Lord Millenniummon told us of this laboratory's location. It was his strict order that he be monitored during time of development," one of the Gazimon said. There was a small gang of them in the room; the same bunch that had come to fetch him earlier. Some were holding strange equipment while the others seemed to be wanting to get their hands on him.

"I don't care what Millenniummon said!" the Kaiser shrieked again as his wide, wild eyes turned on them. "You will not touch me ever again!"

"Lord Millenniummon's orders were to-"

"Shut up you horrible little rat-dog! I don't fucking give a shit!"

"Wait, wait, what's going on?" Davis asked, edging into the room to stand between the boy and the Gazimon. "What're you guys trying to do, exactly?"

"Go away."

"This is none of your business."

"You need to leave."

"Your only job is to protect the human's body."

"The rest is left up to us."

"Now go."

"No! If you guys fuck up, I'm to blame!" Davis snapped back at the Digimon.

"They want to probe me like some kind of lab rat!" the Kaiser cried while pointing at the Gazimon.

"Not on my watch," Davis murmured with a frown. "You guys don't even have thumbs! You'll hurt him if you try and do that. So if it's my job to make sure his body's okay, then it's also my job to tell you guys to screw off."

One of the Gazimon sneered at Davis. "Then maybe you'd like to do it."

Indigo eyes widened in horror. "No!" the boy screamed.

"You don't have a choice!" the grey Digimon barked.

"Why's this even needed?" Davis asked, waving his hands.

"Lord Millenniummon's orders where to periodically check his development and make sure the human's body was accepting his egg," the Gazimon explained. "Both an internal and external examination must be conducted."

"They just want to humiliate me!" the Kaiser yelled.

"If he's not getting sick, I don't think there's any rejection going on. And can't you just do an X-Ray?" Davis suggested.

"We are to follow Lord Millenniummon's orders," they all said again in strange unison.

That's when the Kaiser shouted. Yet another Gazimon had come along and grabbed him from behind, pulling the boy into the room. "I told you not to touch me!" he screamed. In a flash, the Kaiser grabbed up a shard tool from a tray on the counter and plunged the blade in the Gazimon's neck. It howled in pain before pixelating into a grey and black speckled egg. The other Digimon moved to tackle the Kaiser, but he caught a second one the chest, forcing it into the same fate as the former. The whole scene of panic ended with the pale boy in the corner, stray hairs fallen in his face, breathing heavily, and blade at the ready while the Gazimon carefully gathered around him. The whole situation unfolded so quickly that Davis barely had time to blink. By the time he realized what was going on, the Gazimon were closing in on the Kaiser. Davis grit his teeth, running up behind him and grabbing two of them by their collars, only to fling them over his shoulder while knocking another one off of its feet with a low kick. By now the Kaiser was pressed flat up against the wall, his free hand bracing the cold metal behind him. Even as Davis came to his rescue, too many strained emotions and chemicals were running too high for him to find relief. "Stay back," the Kaiser breathed, voice shaking. He held the small blade up in a defensive threat. "Not another step." His hand trembled. Davis had knocked back all of the Gazimon by then, feeling proud of himself. The boy's eyes jumped over to the Kaiser at his words, however, surprise evident on his face. He put his hands up and cautiously took a step away from the other boy. "Get them out of here," the Kaiser ordered. Davis nodded quickly, grabbing the Gazimon again by their collars. He practically dragged them out of the room, throwing them outside the door and slamming it shut behind them. When he saw that they were gone, the Kaiser threw the tool down, it clattering against the metal floor. "Kick me."

"Kick you?" Davis asked, surprised, looking over his shoulder.

"In the stomach. Do it."

"A-are you sure? You didn't want me to before. It'll just start the process over again," Davis said as he carefully approached the other boy.

There were tears in his eyes. "Do it or I will pick that blade up and slice your face open!"

"Okay, okay!" Davis said, putting his hands up again. "Just... don't do anything rash, alright? I'll do it." He swallowed dryly, getting into a stance with his legs apart. Then, with a deep breath inward, he did as he was told and kneed the Kaiser in the stomach.

"Ghn! Auyh!" First his teeth clenched to fight back the pain, but it proved too much and the Kaiser heaved violently. He collapsed onto his knees with saliva trailing his lip and chin, and then he fell with a heavy thud onto the floor.

Davis gasped, getting down onto the floor as well. "A-are you okay?" he asked. Had he kicked too hard? He went to hold the Kaiser's shoulders with his hands, but hesitated when he saw the other boy's pained face, biting his lip slightly.

The Kaiser shuddered through his teeth. "Again..."

"A-again?" Davis asked. "Are you sure? You look really hurt..."

"I can still feel it," he said, body shaking terribly. "Kick me again."

"If you're sure..." Davis' face had fallen into a frown, but he nodded and stood up again. He reeled back his foot, and then kicked the Kaiser in the stomach again. Another cry of pain, and this time the pale boy vomited all over the floor. Davis jumped backwards, his eyes widening. "This wasn't a good idea..." he groaned.

Except the Kaiser just started to laugh. His body was obviously in pain, shivering and curled up on the floor, but he was laughing. "Let's see them monitor their precious Millenniummon now," he said.

"Are... are you alright?" Davis asked, edging over to the Kaiser's other side and crouching down beside him.

"I showed them," the Kaiser said, continuing to laugh. "They want Millenniummon to be reborn? Well tough shit. They'll never get what they want. Not as long as I have you around to destroy it."

"Will you be okay, going through with this once in a while?" Davis asked, finally getting the nerve to put his hands on the Kaiser's shoulders.

The laughter abruptly stopped and the Kaiser glared at Davis. "Why wouldn't I be? Are you saying I'm weak?"

"No, of course not!" Davis said, shaking his head quickly. "Still, you did just throw up everywhere and you're on the ground after two kicks..."

"Getting kicked in the stomach will do that," the Kaiser growled.

"Well, that depends..." Davis started, only to stop himself when he saw the sour expression playing out across the Kaiser's face. "But, uh, if it makes you feel any better, you can take a few shots at me later, too," he offered with a meek grin.

"No, no, you were about to say something," he began bitterly. "Go ahead, Davis, finish your thought. It all depends on what? Hm? The day, the weather, the stars, my shoe size? What?"

"Depends on the situation?" Davis said. "I mean, last time I got nailed in the stomach I didn't go down, but that's because two guys were holding me up," he said with a nervous laugh.

"You also had four years of working out, grunt work, and torture to toughen you up!" the Kaiser snapped. "In case you haven't noticed, Ken left me with a meek and frail body!"

"You're right, you're right, I'm sorry," Davis said apologetically, offering his hands to help the Kaiser up into a sitting position.

The Kaiser took Davis' proffered hands, but instead of just sitting up, he pulled into a full stand. "Come, Davis, it's time for bed," he said in a newly controlled tone.

"What about..." Davis started to ask, casting his eyes down at the mess that was all over the floor.

"That? I'll just have one of the..." Only his voice trailed off. Right, he couldn't snap his fingers anymore and have a Digimon do his whim. "You go on to bed. I'll clean this up," the Kaiser said quietly.

"You sure? I can do it," Davis offered.

"No, it's... It's my mess," the boy insisted.

"If you insist," Davis sighed, nodding. "I'll wait up for you." He let go of the Kaiser's hands, making sure he was steady before he headed out of the lab and towards the bedroom.

Kaiser watched Davis go and then looked down at the vomit on the floor. He cringed. A trashcan and a wet rag served as his only cleaning supplies, but luckily they got the job done. About thirty minutes later he walked almost silently into the bedroom. The Kaiser turned the lights out and crawled straight into bed where he snuggled right up against Davis. "Tell me you love me."

Davis had been lying back against the pillows with his hands behind his head. Feeling the other boy next to him, however, he removed one of his hands to wrap his arm around the Kaiser's shoulders. He was quiet for a moment when the Kaiser spoke, staring at the ceiling. But taking a breath in, he leaned over, his other hand brushing aside the boy's now messy bangs. "I love you," he said quietly, kissing the Kaiser's forehead gently. The Kaiser sighed in relief at the sound of those words. He fell asleep draped over the other body in the bed. They both slept terribly late the next day, well into the afternoon actually, but then again it didn't much matter. What else did they have to do? The Kaiser awoke first. He sat up, yawning and stretching, and decided he wanted a bath. Getting up, he moved lazily to the bathroom where he closed both the doors and locked them out of habit for privacy. He turned the water on and started to undress. Not two seconds later did a terrified scream come echoing from the large tiled room. Davis jerked awake at the sound of the scream, flailing and falling off the side of the bed. He found himself tangled in the sheets, but managed to scramble to his feet and quickly rushed over to the doors. He grabbed the knobs and shook, but found the bathroom locked, so he called, "Are you alright?!"

"It grew back!" the Kaiser shouted.

"Already?" Davis gasped.

"Oh my god!" the boy continued to scream. "Oh my god! How did this happen?! It's awful!"

"Kaiser... Kaiser, open the door," Davis said, rattling the locked doors a bit.

"No!" The Kaiser suddenly barricaded himself against the doors. "Don't come in here!"

"You can't just hide in there," Davis sighed as he continued to fight with the lock. "Come on..."

"I don't want you to see me like this!" the boy cried.

Davis groaned, trying to think of something. "Do you want me to get you something to wear?" he offered.

"I... I dunno..."

"I'll get you something loose, and then I won't see," Davis said, leaning his head against the door. "Does that sound okay?"

"I... I guess so, yeah..."

Davis nodded, heading over to the closet. He threw it open and grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a large t-shirt he must have used to work out in. He still couldn't remember when he worked out in the citadel, but he was just glad the clothing was still there. Heading back over to the bathroom, he rapped his knuckles on the door again. "Just open it a bit and I'll give you the clothes." The click of the lock followed by an inch of open door was all Davis was granted, and the Kaiser made sure to stay well hidden from those mahogany eyes. All that could be seen was a slender hand reaching for the garments. Davis tried to keep down the impulsive urge to rip the door open to see. He swallowed it back and handed the Kaiser the clothing silently.

He took the clothes without a word and closed the door instantly, just barely missing Davis' fingers. Once dressed, the Kaiser emerged from the bathroom. So much for his bath. "He reformed in only a few hours," the Kaiser said quietly. "I thought I would have more time."

"I thought so, too," Davis said with a gentle frown. "I guess we're underestimating him..."

"Do you want another DigiEgg, Davis?" the Kaiser asked suddenly.

"Another one? So soon?" Davis asked, looking surprised. "I mean, sure, but, what's the occasion?"

"Despite the waste of your efforts, you did what I asked of you last night. You did not disobey me and that is all I have ever asked for. Also, since it seems Millenniummon is not going to rest, then you shouldn't either. The DigiEggs are what you really want, so I will give you another one. Besides..." The Kaiser fixed some stray hairs. "I know you don't really want to be here. Go have your precious freedom."

Davis frowned a bit. "That's not it, but... if you're sure," he leaned forward and gently placed a kiss on the Kaiser's lips, before standing up again. "Thanks."

Although it wasn't totally clear, there may have been the faintest hint of a blush on the Kaiser's cheek. He cleared his throat, nodded, and then led the way to the trophy room. The glass case was taken down so Davis could pick a second egg and then put back up. "You have until midnight again tonight. Come back when it pleases you," the Kaiser instructed simply. "You know what will happen if you are late, though."

"Mhm," Davis said with a nod as he looked at the remaining eggs. He stopped for a moment to think. Any one of the children would no doubt be thrilled to have their DigiEggs back. He recalled what he'd said to Taichi, about first bringing back the ones that could Digivolve. Armadillomon, Hawkmon, Gatomon, Patamon. His hand first hovered over Gatomon's egg, fighting a smile as he thought of Kari's gratitude when he returned the egg. But suddenly, his mind flashed to something TK had said when he first went back to the real world. He remembered the sad smile on the blond's face as he asked if Davis had brought back Patamon. He gritted his teeth as he looked between the two eggs, but finally took Patamon's DigiEgg into his arms, unable to get TK's words and expression out of his mind. He stood up with the orange and white egg, watching as the case closed, and turned back to the Kaiser with a nod. "Midnight. I'll be back... take care of yourself, okay?"

The Kaiser smiled weakly and nodded. "I don't have much of a choice in that."

Davis also managed a smile. "Just be careful," he murmured, placing a light peck on the Kaiser's cheek before he walked out, heading towards the gate back to the real world.

TK peered through the eye hole when someone came knocking on his door. He frowned when all he saw was a hooded figure. "Can I help you?" he asked through the door. "I can give you food, but not money."

"Food's fine with me," Davis said as he flipped his hood back, grinning widely. "We gonna stay in or are you gonna treat me to a fancy dinner, then?"

"Davis?!" TK threw open the door, grabbed the front of the sweatshirt to pull the brunet in, and slammed the door shut again. "You're lucky my mom is at work, man! What on earth are you doing here?" he asked with a big smile on his face.

Davis was surprised when the blond tugged him inside to say the least. "Well, I was hoping for that fancy dinner," he said with a snicker, shaking his head. "Nah, I've got a gift for you from the Digital World."

TK's blue eyes lit up like a clear day in spring. "Patamon!"

"Well, he's not Patamon yet," Davis said, as he opened up his bag and carefully produced the egg. "But yeah, he'll get there," he said, smiling and offering the DigiEgg over to the other boy.

"Davis, this is so awesome! I can't believe you actually managed!" TK took the egg into his arms and held it close to his chest. "Rub rub rub... Rub rub rub... Rub rub rub..." The blond immediately began to mutter the chant Elecmon had taught him so many years ago while his hand carried out the action itself. He'd do this all night if he had to.

But just like when Botamon was reunited with Taichi after so many years, TK's Digimon at once recognized his partner's presence. The egg glowed, and crackled, and the top popped off of the egg, revealing a tiny, jellyfish-like Digimon with big black eyes. "Poyo!"

"Poyomon!" TK cried delightedly. He let the shell fall to the floor while holding the baby Digimon in his hands. "You hatched so quickly! I can't believe it!" TK drew Poyomon in and touched their foreheads together. "It feels like forever since I've seen you, but it also feels like just yesterday you were right by my side. That's exactly where you're going to stay, though. Thanks, Davis. This means a lot."

Davis nodded, smiling gently. Just like when he'd brought Botamon back to Taichi, seeing these two united made him feel both happy and proud. "Of course," he murmured. "Don't mention it."

"I missed you so much, TK!" Poyomon squealed, bouncing in his boy's hands.

TK laughed. "I missed you so much, too. Just you wait. With enough food and partner time, we'll have you back to Patamon before you know it!" Blue eyes looked to the other boy. "How many others have you returned?"

"Just Botamon to Taichi," Davis said. "Hopefully I'll have all of the rest back soon enough."

"You'll get Nyaromon back to Kari next, right?" TK asked, not trying to hide his favoritism for his girlfriend at all. "And then Punimon for my brother?"

"If that's what you want, sure," Davis said with a meek laugh, scratching at the back of his head. "To tell you the truth, it's nice to have others pick the order for me. Trying to make the call on my own makes me feel like a bad person for leaving the rest behind."

TK nodded. "Well, if you really want my advice, I go Kari, Yamato, Sora, Cody, Yolei, Joe, Mimi, and then Izzy."

"Why that order?" Davis asked, frowning a bit. He didn't know Sora that well and had wanted to get Cody's Digimon back to him quickly. He felt bad for the younger boy, especially after the way he reacted when Davis returned to the real world.

"Kari and Yamato for obvious reasons. Sora has always been like an older sister to me, too," the blond explained. "Cody and Yolei next since they were with us. Joe, Mimi, and Izzy are last only because they live so much farther away." TK shrugged. "That's the just the way I would do it. You can pick your own order."

"Alright," Davis said with a nod. The order seemed to be forming in his head thanks to the blond's input. Kari and Yamato on TK's request. Then Cody, then Yolei, the members of his team. Joe, then Izzy, who'd both helped him immensely during his time in the real world, and last but not least, Sora and Mimi. That was, of course, unless plans had to change for some reason. "Anyway..." He glanced at the door, unsure as to whether or not the other boy wanted him hanging around.

"Hey, um..." TK began hesitantly. "Sorry about what happened at school. I wanted to stand up for you, but mom went ballistic."

"That's okay," Davis said, shaking his head. "It would have gotten even more crazy if you guys got involved, anyway. I wouldn't have wanted you guys to get pulled into it."

"Yeah, but Inouye is a jackass. Someone needed to knock him down. Granted not with a chair, but still."

"I guess I went a little overboard," Davis said with a laugh, shoving his hands in his pockets. "But that guy really got under my skin."

TK shrugged. "His parents got divorced when he was nine and he's been carrying it around with him ever since. He bags on anybody with parent problems just to forget about his own. It's really sad."

"Well, hopefully he gets over bullying other people. I don't know how many more chairs to the head he can take," Davis said with his own shrug. "I'm just glad to be outta school. It wasn't working out so well for me, anyway."

"And you know plenty of people lead decent lives without finishing school. Someday you can get your G.E.D. and do all sorts of things. Plus my dad always says you learn better from experience than you do from books." TK laughed. "My mom goes nuts when he says that. He thinks Yamato and I are gonna drop out because of what he said, but we wouldn't. Dad has a point, though. Even if you don't finish school, you can learn plenty of other stuff just by going out there and doing."

"Yeah, that's true," Davis said with a nod. He'd almost opened his mouth to tell TK had he had no intention of getting his G.E.D. or a job at all, but he realized that the last thing he wanted to do was explain his plan to everyone over and over again. So he just nodded to the blond's story, continuing to smile.

"You want a treat, Pyomon?" TK got up, went to the pantry, and came back with a bag of fruit flavored marshamallow candies. "You like peach, right?" he asked and then held the little treat to his Digimon's mouth. TK then offered the bag to Davis. "You want some?"

Poyomon happily munched on the treat while Davis nodded and pulled a handful of the candies out of the bag. "Yeah, thanks. All that's left in the Digital World is health food," he said with a roll of his eyes as he popped a piece of candy into his mouth.

"Health food, since when? What happened to all the mailboxes full of chocolate bars and Cheetos? The vending machines? The cupcake bushes?"

"Underwater," Davis sighed. "The Digital World flooded."

Blue eyes widened slowly. "Wh-What? How?" Here it came, the long explanation. Davis took a deep breath in and proceeded to fill TK in on everything that had occured since he went back. All about Millenniummon, what he was doing to the Kaiser, and what his slowly rising power had done to the Digital World. "Damn..." TK breathed at the end of the story. He was petting Poyomon's smooth head, having noticed the baby Digimon start to shake a few minutes before at the mention of the horrible Digimon. "This has just turned into one giant cluster f-" Blue eyes glanced down at Poyomon and then back up at Davis. "Well, you know."

Davis nodded. "Yeah, it really has." With a few candies left in his hand, but already sick of the taste, he offered the rest to the shaking Poyomon. He happily took them, and they seemed to calm him down. "We've been trying to figure out what we should do, but... there's so few options."

"Why can't you just destroy the gate?" TK asked, like it was so obvious.

"The gate is the Kaiser's own creation," Davis started, "And Millenniummon is half the Kaiser. I don't think making a new gate would be a huge problem for him."

"Are you sure he can make one by himself?"

"He wouldn't need to. All of the Digimon are on his side."

TK shrugged. "I just wonder how capable they really are of something that advanced. I mean, none of them are that smart and more than half don't have the proper appendages to do the work."

"I wouldn't be so sure, TK," Poyomon suddenly squeaked, looking up at the boy from his arms. "Remember Datamon? And when Izzy told us about Vademon?"

"Sounds like you have to trap him, then," TK said.

"That's what Taichi suggested," Davis said with a nod.

The blond grinned. "See? The idea is two for zero, we must be on the right track."

Again Davis nodded. "It seems like the best idea so far... Though making sure whatever trap we pick works is the most important part. I'm not sure how to test anything, though. I mean, what could we possibly have laying around that's as strong as Millenniummon's spores?"

"Well..." he began thoughtfully. "Why not build something?"

"Like what?"

"I dunno, a data proof box? Oh! What if you can materialize a virus quarantine unit?" TK suggested excitedly.

Davis just quirked a brow before looking upwards slightly. "I'm gonna have to ask the Kaiser if that would work..."

"You know what I mean, though?"

"Yeah, I see what you're getting at," Davis said with a grin. "Seems like every Digidestined go to has another piece of this puzzle for me."

"Hey," TK offered a thumbs up, "we're not the Chosen Children for nothing, right?"

Davis laughed, nodding and giving his own thumbs up. "Right."


	33. Taking Control

The Kaiser stood in front of his mirror. It had only been four days since he'd had Davis kick him in hopes of dispelling Millenniummon's egg, but it had grown back overnight, and now it had formed even further. A pale hand ran over the curve in his figure. It wasn't at all like people probably thought it was. There was no warmth there. It was just firm and cool to the touch. Nothing moved, nothing kicked, nothing rolled around. The Kaiser much preferred it that way, though. Things were bad enough having to look this way. The last thing he wanted was to feel things. He suddenly jerked the large black shirt back down when he heard Davis approaching the bedroom. He'd allowed the boy to return another Chosen egg and apparently Davis had returned. "You're back!" the Kaiser began with restrained delight, only to stop in his tracks and glare at the other boy. "What the hell is that?"

Davis' own joy seemed to have stopped short as he entered the room to the Kaiser's icy stare. He'd just gotten back from spending the day with Kari after returning Nyaromon's egg to her, and he'd had a spring in his step until he stopped in the doorway. "What the hell is what?" he asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

The Kaiser hurried over to Davis' side. He stared meticulously at the tan boy's cheek where a glossy lip-shaped mark had stained his skin. "That," he hissed and pointed.

Davis touched his cheek and felt what was left of Kari's lip-gloss. "O-oh, this," he said, before laughing nervously. "She, uh... wanted to thank me, that's all."

"Did she spread her legs for you, too?" the Kaiser growled. "A big hot, wet thank you!"

"What? No!" Davis said, putting his hands up defensively. But, the expression on the Kaiser's face was just too funny, and it took a lot to stop Davis from cracking a smile. A tiny curl of the lips got through. "Jealous?"

"Of your whore?" he scoffed. The Kaiser turned his back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Of course not. That's absurd."

Davis let out an exhale, rolling his eyes. "She's not a whore. It was just a kiss on the cheek to say thank you. She wouldn't do anything for me, anyway. She's completely into TK."

Indigo eyes glared over his shoulder. "So you're saying you want her to do things for you?"

"No, no," Davis said, putting his hands back up. "I'm just saying."

"That you want to fuck her," the Kaiser quipped.

Davis sighed, dropping his hands to his sides. "You're never happy. You know you have no reason to be jealous."

"I have every reason to be jealous!" he snapped in turned to face Davis again. "I'm fat with some grotesque demon DigiEgg! She's thin and pretty and nice! And don't try denying that you used to be in love with her!" The Kaiser brandished an accusatory finger at the other boy. "You'd have her if you got the chance!"

"Except I made a promise to you that I'm not about to break," Davis said, allowing the accusations to be poured upon him with a slightly lowered head.

"Oh! Oh! So if wasn't for this promise of yours, you would do her, is that it?"

It would be completely accurate to say that Davis had not missed this side of the Kaiser. "That's not true. There's a ton of reasons I wouldn't." His shoulders slumped a bit as he asked, "Why're you trying to start a fight with me over this? It was just a kiss on the cheek."

"Because you belong to me, Davis!" the Kaiser insisted. "She put her disgusting mouth all over something that isn't hers!"

"In that case I'll make sure to tell Yamato not to kiss me when I bring him Punimon," Davis mumbled.

His face was turning red and tears threatened his dark eyes. "You think this is a joke?! Well you just keep laughing then, Davis! You and your friends can have a giant fun orgy-fest and laugh at me the whole time! Go ahead! See if I care!" The Kaiser turned tail and retreated to his lavish bathroom, slamming the doors behind him so he could cry without Davis seeing him. Davis' eyes widened when the Kaiser suddenly ran off. That was a reaction he hadn't been expecting. He rolled his head back, letting air escape between pursed lips. At first, he didn't even want to bother following the Kaiser when the other boy was getting himself worked up over nothing. But finally, he convinced himself to head to the bathroom and see if the Kaiser had forgotten to lock the door. Angry sobs echoed off the tiles and pillars of the bathroom. The few curtains hanging in there did little to stifle the sound. The Kaiser was in the bathtub, its depth allowing him to almost be hidden when it wasn't full of water. He'd drawn his knees up to his chest, which resulted in the tops of his thighs pressing into his round stomach. This only drew angrier sobs as his face was buried in his hands. Davis found the door open and carefully cracked the door open so it wouldn't creak. Guilt flooded onto his face when he heard the sobbing, but didn't see the other boy. He shuffled into the bathroom and soon found the source of the loud crying, leaning over the edge of the bathtub and hesitantly reaching his hand down to brush back a few stray hairs that had escaped from the Kaiser's ponytail in his angry dash. "I don't know what I am anymore!" the Kaiser choked.

That made Davis quirk a brow confusedly. "What?" he asked.

"Am I Ken? I am the Digimon Kaiser? Am I Millenniummon? Am I a human? Am I a Digimon? Am I a worthless vessel? Am I anything?"

"Oh..." So the real problem was a completely different issue. He opened his mouth to call the other boy by name to try sand gently persuade him out of the tub, but the word he did not know died on his lips. "I... well.... that's complicated, isn't it..."

"If I'm nothing, then I can't be loved. If I'm something, am I worth loving? Does it even matter? Whatever I am... Isn't meant to last. For anyone to care would just be a waste of their time!"

Davis frowned, suddenly making the decision to climb into the tub along with the Kaiser. He then shifted towards him and wrapped the other boy up in his arms, pulling him close. "C'mon, that isn't true."

"Yes it is..." the Kaiser moaned. "What are you going to have possibly gained from loving me after I die? Nothing but wasted months of your life."

"I'll have memories... and I've learned a lot from you," Davis ventured, glad at least that the Kaiser didn't push him away, and moving one of his hands to again start brushing back hsi hair as the other arm wrapped around his shoulders.

"Like how to avoid dating raving lunatics?" the Kaiser scoffed meekly.

Davis laughed quietly. "How about how to be intimate," he suggested. "And as for memories... I'm not forgetting my first kiss any time soon."

The Kaiser turned his face away. "Until your next first kiss with someone new..."

"You can't have more than one first kiss," Davis murmured. "You have your first kiss with someone, sure, but really, there's only one overall." He turned his own head to put a kiss on the Kaiser's cheek, even as it turned away from him. "And that was with you, right?"

"And... You really enjoyed it?"

"I was the one that kissed you, wasn't I?"

"Yes, but... You might have regretted it..."

"If I regretted it, I wouldn't be doing it again," Davis said, as he turned the Kaiser's face towards his own to place a gentle kiss on lips turned salty from the now diminishing shower of tears. The Kaiser pulled back by just a hair at first, but he desperate human need for affection sent him back in. He pressed into the kiss. Usually this happened while they were being rough or he was having one of his crazy fits, but this time... It felt different. The gesture was gentle, loving, and secure. Everything the Kaiser knew a kiss was supposed to be, but could never really get to work. He wrapped his arms around Davis' neck, pulling himself closer, until his stomach pressed against the other boy. The Kaiser gasped his disgust of himself and ripped away. Davis frowned gently when the Kaiser pulled back. "Don't let that ruin what time we have left together," he said quietly. "It'll be over with eventually... but once it is, things might not be the same... so don't let it mess everything up for you now."

"It's so perverted," the pale boy hissed under his breath. "I hate it."

"There isn't much you can do about it," Davis sighed quietly. "Do you really want to spend the last of our time together hiding and hating yourself?"

The Kaiser hesitated, but then admitted softly, "No..."

"Then don't let it," Davis murmured. "I know it's hard to, but try to ignore it. It won't be your burden soon enough."

"I... I want to be with you, Davis." Dark indigo eyes looked up at the other boy. "I want to know what it feels like... not having the power, not being the one in control."

"What do you mean by that?" Davis asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean... I've always been dominant over you. I always took control and led the way through our love making, but now... just once... I want you to do it. I guess... Like it's supposed to be."

Davis looked floored, but swallowed and said, "Well... I don't know how well that will go over... seeing as I'm still sort of new to that," he added with a quiet laugh. "But if that's what you really want..."

"Just remember what I taught you," the Kaiser insisted. "You can do it. I know you can. If I'm in control... It's only like making love with myself. That's now how it should be. All I ever wanted was to be loved, so... I want you to make love with me. I want to feel it from you, not from myself."

Davis nodded again. "Alright," he said, before glancing around and letting out a nervous laugh. "But uh, if I'm gonna be in control, first thing is... preferably we don't do it in the bathtub."

The Kaiser blushed and laughed as well. "Yes... Not unless there were bubbles and candles involved, right?"

Davis knit his eyebrows together, once more with a curious expression on his face. "Can... can you do it in water?"

The pale boy laughed gently. It was a strange sound coming from him... Remnants of Ken. "Of course you can, Davis."

Davis blushed a bit, as if embarrassed for not knowing. "Well I didn't know that."

People can make love almost anywhere, Davis. That's the beauty of it. It can be shared anywhere at any time."

"Like where?" Davis asked with a smirk as he rested his chin atop the Kaiser's head, with the other boy tucked into his chest.

The Kaiser sighed. "Like... In the sand on the beach, in the water, in the grass in the field, anywhere on the ground really. With enough balance, people can even do it in a tree."

"Whoah, that's impressive," Davis said. "Well, you have that... magical projection room thingy, don't you?"

The Kaiser looked surprised. "Yes, but... Why?"

"Well," Davis said with a shrug. "You could use it to go anywhere, couldn't you?"

"Of course..."

"Then pick a spot for us," he said with a grin. "Anywhere you like."

"Wh-What? Davis, I... I don't have that kind of imagination," the Kaiser said quietly. "I mean... Where are we supposed to go? The beach?"

"Is that somewhere you'd like to go?" Davis asked, trying to help the Kaiser along.

The Kaiser looked down and then back up. "A warm beach? With a sun and clear water?"

"There ya go," Davis said, smiling down at the Kaiser. "We could go there, then."

The Kaiser nodded. "All right, then." He stood up then, getting out of the bath, and then taking Davis' hand as he led the way to the holographic chamber. Or magical projection room thingy as Davis called it. The door swished closed behind them and with some quick programming, the room was suddenly a seaside shore line with white sand, crystal blue water, and a sun that warmed their bones.

"Nice!" Davis cheered, throwing his arms up in the air with a grin on his face. "Haven't seen one of these in a long time!" Just as quickly as the water appeared he was rushing towards it, throwing his shirt off and kicking off his shoes before he splashed into the water up to his calves. Dark eyes watched the tan-skinned boy run out into the waves, splashing about and laughing. The Kaiser took a few steps forward, only his bare feet meeting the waves where they broke upon the shore. He took to watching. His body still concealed in the large, long, baggy black clothing. Davis soon noticed the other boy wasn't joining him and made a motion with his hands like grabbing the hem of a shirt that was no longer there. "C'mon," he prompted, "Don't let it control you. Enjoy the time we've got left."

The Kaiser shook his head. "You won't like the way I look."

"Doesn't matter," Davis said with an adamant shake of his head.

"Of course it does," he insisted. "If you don't like the way I look, you won't want me."

"We're not going to do anything with your clothes on," Davis said, splashing through the water to approach the other boy with a sly smirk on his face. "Now take 'em off or I'm taking them off for you." The Kaiser forced his eyes shut as he grabbed the hem of his shirt. With a deep breath, he pulled the fabric off swiftly like a band-aid. Black material fell in a wrinkled puddle in the sand, leaving the Kaiser standing there with his arms covering his chest. "C'mon," Davis urged, taking hold of the Kaiser's hands and moving his arms away from his chest. He just smiled at the other boy and tried to lead him back out into the water. "Don't even think about it, okay? Just come enjoy this with me."

"It's hard not to," the Kaiser argued softly, but followed Davis nonetheless.

"I know," Davis said, nodding in agreement. "But just try. Look," he said, smiling and sweeping one of his arms to widely gesture at the water stretching out behind them. "There's a lot of much better things that deserve your attention. Don't give stuff that makes you angry the time of day."

"But... The things that make me angry are the things that need to be fixed. Once I fix them, then I can be happy," the Kaiser said, like it was the most logical thing. "Why should I put so much time and effort into good things when they no longer need fixing or improvement?"

"Because good things make you happy?" Davis offered. "Dwelling on things that make you angry or upset may get them fixed, but then you can't enjoy the good things! If you're gonna insist on making yourself upset in order to get stuff done, at least take a break. You're gonna overstress yourself."

The Kaiser looked out over the water and then back at Davis. "I'm not sure I know how to do what you're suggesting."

"Just let go of all the stress for a bit," Davis implored, making a motion with his hands as if he was releasing something. "Forget about everything that's making you mad." The boy shrugged, but attempted to do as told. His eyebrows knitted together in concentration. The Kaiser focused rather hard on emptying his mind, going against the natural process of it. He was like that for a long time, almost like his face had gotten stuck, but suddenly... The Kaiser hiccupped. Davis quirked a brow before sputtering out a laugh. "What was that?"

"I think I tried too hard," the Kaiser replied with a furiously embarrassed blush.

"That was cute," Davis laughed, not able to hold it back anymore.

His blushed brightened. "I-It was not!"

"Yes it was," Davis replied in a sing-song voice, kissing one of those blushing cheeks before he stepped back with a huge smirk on his face.

"W-Well... Don't expect it to happen again!" the Kaiser said stubbornly.

"Oh, I don't," Davis hummed. "That's enough to keep me going for months and months."

"I'm glad you found it so entertaining," the Kaiser huffed, crossing his arms again which rested on the small shelf of his stomach. "Are we having fun yet?"

"I am," Davis said with a quiet laugh. "How about you try splashing me? That'll make you feel better." The Kaiser tried kicking at the water, but it came up at himself instead, splashing into his own face. The pale boy was left sputtering and dripping at the end of it. Not one to look like a fool, he tried again, this time bending over to use his hands. Davis started laughing hysterically until his own face was doused with an even more powerful splash that he wasn't expecting. His eyes went wide as he began to rub the salty water from them and turned to spit out a stream of water that had gotten into his mouth.

Then Davis probably heard something he'd never expected. Laughter. The Kaiser was laughing like the boy he really was. He was doubled over, clutching his middle with one arm and pointing at Davis with the other. "I got you!"

"You sure did," Davis gasped when he was free of the water in his mouth, shaking his now wet hair, making water sprinkle all over the place. He grinned when he heard the Kaiser's laughter, but the other boy had just declared war. Davis crouched down into the water and sent another splash of water up into the Kaiser's face. The Kaiser cried out when he was assaulted with the playful water attack. He turned slightly in hopes of shielding himself, but he still got wet. He countered by cupping his hand and flinging the crystal blue liquid at his lover. This splash sent Davis falling back into the water, the water rising up over his shorts and immediately soaking them through. "I hope there wasn't anything in my pockets..." he snickered, grabbing the Kaiser's hand to try and pull him into the water too.

"Davis! Nooa-aaah!" The Kaiser was easily pulled down, his center of gravity gone thanks to his new shape. He disappeared under the water in a frenzy of bubbles. Soon, the Kaiser emerged, though, his dark violet hair hanging like a curtain over his face. Davis started to laugh so hard he couldn't keep his eyes open. He had to forcibly take deep breaths to stop so he could reach forward and part the Kaiser's hair so he could see through to his face. The pale boy coughed slightly. "I think I swallowed some."

Davis held back his laughter. "It won't kill you."

"But ingesting one gram per kilogram of one's body weight in salt can be fatal!" the Kaiser said, almost whining.

"Psh," Davis said, waving his hand. "I used to drink salt water all day when I went to the beach and I never had a problem."

"How does this turn into sex, though?" he asked.

Davis couldn't help another bout of giggles. "Forget about the sex for a second. We're having fun."

"What else is there to do other than splash each other?"

"Have you ever tried swimming?" Davis asked. "Like, real swimming, not just sitting in water. Swimming in the bath does not count."

"I know how to swim," the Kaiser retorted, sounding offended.

"I didn't say you didn't know how," Davis said, rolling his eyes as he got down into the water and pushed off the swallow sand, floating into deeper water. "I asked if you've tried it. In the ocean."

The Kaiser looked away. "Well, no, not exactly."

"Then try!" Davis chirped as he turned over in the deeper water, from being on his back to floating on his stomach. "You don't even have to go that deep." The Kaiser nodded slowly and pushed off like he'd seen Davis do. Very awkward and slow doggy paddling was what moved the boy through the water. Faint grunts were heard as he tried to reach Davis in the deeper waters. "So..." Davis asked as he flipped back onto his back, floating past the Kaiser with just a slight kicking off his feet. "How often do you swim, exactly?" he asked with a smirk, putting his hands behind his head.

"Conquering the world leaves little time for games, Davis," he snorted in defense. The Kaiser tried turning so he could follow Davis, but sort of moved himself sideways instead.

"I conquered the real world with my infinite charm, and I totally had time to slack off, too," Davis countered as he swam up behind the Kaiser and leaned over just long enough to take a tiny nip at his earlobe as he passed.

"Ah!" The Kaiser turned, again trying to chase the other, but ended up swimming in little circles. "Wait... Wait! How did this even happen?" he cried in confusion as his body was doing nothing he thought he was telling it to. In an attempt to swim straight, the Kaiser waved one of his arms under the water, but this only resulted in him rolling over, his belly curving up out of the water. "Swimming is stupid," he pouted.

Davis laughed, swimming over to the other boy and flipping him back over, taking the Kaiser's arms and slinging him over his back as he started to swim back to shore. "Call it stupid all you like, but you just got thwarted by some water," he snickered.

"Yeah? Well... I can make water evaporate with heat, so there," he retorted while hanging onto Davis. "See how awesome it is then."

Davis laughed again. He was thoroughly enjoying listening to the Kaiser complain, now that it wasn't focused at him. He let the other boy off his back once they were up on the shore, sitting on the sand that was wet from the waves washing up and pulling back. "You're hysterical sometimes."

The evil boy frowned. "I am not." He lay on his back to let the sun dry him and get him warm again. "I'm very serious all of the time." Davis frowned as well, but then smirked and reached over to tickle the Kaiser's side. "Ah, no!" The Kaiser started to laugh as he tried battling away Davis' hands. "No! Stop!" he cried between giggles and laughter. Davis grinned widely. He liked this side of the Kaiser even more than he liked listening to him whine. So he leaned closer, hovering over the other boy, so he could tickle both his sides. The Kaiser's body wriggled humorously on the sand. Laughing and laughing and laughing. He couldn't help it. Davis' fingers just attacked without mercy, bringing out that strange, yet wonderful sound. The Kaiser's cheeks even started to turn pink he was laughing so much. Finally, Davis lifted his hands, letting the Kaiser breathe. The laughter was infectious, he himself laughing a bit. When the other boy had gulped back his breath, Davis' hands moved to cup his face and he kissed him gently. The Kaiser inhaled sharply on the kiss. Indigo eyes were wide at first, but soon his expression melted and they fluttered closed. He reached his arms up so he could wrap them around Davis' shoulders and hold on, hold close. Davis made a quiet noise into the kiss, moving his hands to brace on the sand on either side of the Kaiser's shoulders as he moved further over him, until he got to the point where he was straddling the other boy's hips. Feeling Davis press against his new shape drew a small whimper from the Kaiser. He'd done his best to ignore it up until now, but soon there would be no clothing or waves to hide it from the other boy.

"Ssh," Davis implored, shaking his head as he went back to kissing at the Kaiser's neck. "Don't even think about it. Just think about me."

"How can you not be thinking about it?" the Kaiser asked as his nails slipped over wet skin.

"I have someone better to pay attention to," Davis laughed quietly against the Kaiser's neck.

The Kaiser gasped softly. "I don't understand you, Davis."

"What do you mean?" Davis asked.

"How you can just... Forget about things. How you can just choose not to think about one thing or another."

Davis chuckled quietly again. "I've just got a one-track mind."

"Mmn... Must be nice..."

"Sometimes," Davis murmured. "Not the best for multi-tasking, though."

"Show me..." the Kaiser pleaded. "Show me how to do it."

"Well, I don't know how to show you, really..." Davis started. "But if you think enough about one thing, everything else will just... go away," he said, as his hands slipped down the Kaiser's body and began to take away his pants.

The pale boy gasped again. "So... If I just think about Davis, I'll forget everything else?"

"That's the idea," Davis murmured as he peeled away the wet garments. Once the clothing was gone, Davis swallowed slightly, recalling what he'd done the past few times they'd done this. He was surprised with himself as he found that his fingers practically lead themselves, knowing exactly where to start.

"Mmn!" The Kaiser gasped sharply again and bent his legs up when he felt Davis' fingers begin their work. It was different, not guiding them, because then he didn't know what they were going to do and when. "D-Davis... Davis... Davis," the boy chanted softly like a mantra, trying to focus like he'd been told. At first Davis thought he was being called, like something was wrong, so he stopped for a moment before he realized what the Kaiser was doing. With a silent smile, he nodded approvingly as his fingers went back to their task. One, two, then three, like they'd learned was necessary. It almost felt like routine, but doing it without the Kaiser telling him to, step by step, was a whole new experience. He nipped at the Kaiser's neck, leaving red marks along its pale surface, as his fingers spread apart. The Kaiser panted softly. His mind was slowly hazing over and leaving nothing but an image of Davis for him to focus on. "Ahh! Nhaah!" The pale body arched slightly when Davis spread his fingers. As the waves washed up underneath them, the salt water stung at the tender, stretched skin inside him.

"You okay?" Davis asked quietly. Those sounds were usually good, but the boy was determined to be sure that everything went right. He pulled his hand back once he was done, waiting for the Kaiser's answer as he felt the sand rise a bit around them, indents forming around his knees and the Kaiser's shoulders.

"Y-Yes," he replied with a short nod. "Go ahead... I-I'm ready..." Davis swallowed slightly, but gave his own nod. He backed up a bit in order to sling the other boy's legs up onto his shoulders, after he'd unbuttoned and thrown away his own shorts. And then, inching a bit closer, he carefully pushed his way inside. "Ahh! Aahhh!" The Kaiser's legs clamped against Davis' neck for a few seconds before he forced himself to relax. It really was different. He'd been with this same boy dozens of times, but it honestly felt different right now. It felt... real. "Da-Davis... Oh, Davis..."

"Nngh..." Davis groaned gently, finding it hard at first to move back and forth with the sand shifting beneath his knees. But as his hands dug slightly into the sand to help him keep his balance, he found it easier to start to rock his hips back and forth, and more moans rumbled up from his throat as he round a rhythm. The Kaiser groaned as Davis began to move like that. He felt his body shifting in the wet sand, moving up and down slightly. A small cry broke forth each time Davis thrust back in. The Kaiser's face was pink, beading with sweat, and turned a little so he could moan into open air. Davis couldn't help a small grin of pride, even as it was quickly wiped away when another pleasured sound escaped his lips. Being able to make the Kaiser groan and twist like that did something to fuel his pride, which just dared him to push deeper, his chin curling into his chest with a quiet, "A-ah..."

"Nyah! Ah! Haa!" His own head went back, hair rubbing against the sand, tangling in itself. "Davis! Davis! Daaa-visss!" he cried out. The Kaiser clung to his lover now. He never thought Davis would be this good on his own. "Excellent! Wond-derful! Yes Davis! Y-Y-Yesss!" Davis felt his blood rush and a blush rise in his cheeks as he listened to the Kaiser. His eyes were closed from the feeling, he only heard the sounds the other boy was making, and they alone were enough to send a shiver down his spine. To think he'd ever get to hear the Kaiser, stoic, serious, powerful Kaiser moaning his name like that. His mind raced, trying to recall other things the Kaiser had told him to do. Panting, he cracked one eye open as he lifted one hand out of the sand. The water rose up, cleaning it of the tiny grains, and once it was free of sand, he reached it down to start slowly stroking the other boy's length, in time with his own thrusts. The Kaiser let out a powerful cry. It was real. All of it was so real. Davis wasn't a mindless drone just going through the motions. He wasn't so new that the Kaiser had to do the work for him. No... It was all Davis. There was thought and feeling going into every move, every gesture. This was how it was supposed to be, wasn't it? "Ah! Ah! Ah! Davis! Da-ha-avis!"

Davis panted and groaned, finding it hard to keep his rhythm as he heard the Kaiser's cries, felt his legs shivering against his ears, the Kaiser's pulse racing through them so quickly that Davis could swear he heard the other boy's pulse, though it could just have well of been his own heart pounding in his head. "Nngh! Nn..." He swallowed dryly, ducking his head down in order to talk against the Kaiser's ear, lips pressed against the lobe. "I love you," he gasped breathlessly.

Slender fingers gripped short cinnamon hair at those words. All the air left his lungs in awe of the sound. "Ah! I... I love yo-ooh, too! Haa! Ahh! Nyah! Ahn!" Davis both stroked and thrust the right spot at the right moment. The Kaiser cried out long and hard as he came, the waves coming up to wash the evidence away only a few seconds later. Even though he was done, the boy continued to whimper and moan for Davis. Davis needed a bit more time, grunting and groaning as he thrust up into the tensing body beneath him. The Kaiser continued to tug at his hair and he grit his teeth slightly as the other boy's nails scratched at his scalp, seemingly both painful and praising. Finally, he felt his release, his body shivering as all at once, he stopped, his body relaxing, the waves once more washing up and cooling his blazing skin.

"It worked..." the Kaiser sighed against a tan cheek.

"I told you it would," Davis said with a broken laugh, his own gasps making his laughter nothing more than a few amused puffs of breath. He slowly moved back and set the Kaiser's legs down in the surf, before coming to lay next to him in the water so the waves could wash his body of sweat, as it already was doing for the other boy.

The Kaiser turned onto his side and moved in close to Davis. "I want to stay like this forever..."

Davis hummed gently, moving one of his arms to wrap it around the Kaiser's shoulders. "It'd be nice... wouldn't it?"

"It would be... perfect..." the Kaiser said softly, his voice trailing off as he was quickly falling asleep. Davis watched silently as the Kaiser drifted off to sleep. He didn't feel too tired, though. He got up, lifting the Kaiser up and carrying him out of the surf, over to where their clothes were drying on the sand. Dutifully, he redressed the other body, then dressed himself. Picking the Kaiser back up, the beach flickered and faded as he edged his way out of the chamber, and carried the Kaiser back to his bed.


	34. Death and Rebirth

After the fight that had ensued over Kari, the Kaiser had at first been hesitant about giving Davis any more of the eggs. But slowly, the other boy broke him down. Be it by turning on the charm or just plain bending every which way the Kaiser pleased, Davis finally managed to get his hands on the rest of the eggs. Each Digimon was returned to the proper child, though the last one had to be brought to Taichi in order to make sure it eventually got to its proper owner. But that was fine with Davis, because seeing his idol again was always welcome, and it gave him time to talk to Taichi about a plan of action. It was pretty simple. Once the egg was laid, they'd begin work on a chamber tough enough to hold it. Then it'd be put in a data containment cube, like TK had suggested, frozen inside, and thrown in the chamber. That sounded like it would suffice. Although they'd tried to start working as soon as the ideas had come up, the Kaiser had explained to Davis that they couldn't guess how strong the egg was without having it around to observe. So they had a limited time limit of however long the egg had between being laid and hatching to work, but Davis was sure that would be enough time as long as they all worked together. Today, he found himself waking up incredibly late. It was probably already evening by the time he woke up. His last few trips to the real world had all come in a row and it really seemed to have tired him out. But he woke up feeling refreshed, grinning and throwing off the sheets as he sat up. But brown eyes suddenly went wide at what he saw beneath the sheets. Blood had soaked into them, staining the bed a dark crimson. Davis' mouth ran dry and he quickly looked over to the Kaiser's side of the bed for an answer.

The Kaiser himself was nowhere to be seen. He wasn't on the floor, in the closet, or even in the bathroom. His blood was there, though. A trail of it leading out the door, and among it... Gazimon and Apemon paw prints. The patterns had been smeared in the liquid crimson, but the shape was easy enough to define. The Digimon had known when to come. While Kaiser had easily grown to match a full-term woman, he still denied the fact that his time would be soon. He had to have more time. He deserved more time. He needed to be with Davis just a little bit longer. A lot longer. Forever. The Kaiser had always gotten what he wanted, so why not now? Why couldn't he have this too? Only the demon egg in his belly wouldn't allow that. It had awakened him with angry, eager contractions, seeking freedom the sooner the better. The Digimon had known when to come and take him away. Away from Davis. Away from the only warmth and security he'd even known. Ever accepted. Away from his lover and to a place that cold, empty, and metallic. Where his screams echoed off the cylindrical walls, but failed to even faze the Digimon crowding him and arguing with each other.

Davis' eyes followed the trail of blood and he instinctively knew what had happened. He jumped to his feet and his own feet made marks in the blood as he rushed out of the bedroom, following the footprints. The further he went, the more he could hear the arguing and the yelping, the screaming, the crying, and the threats the Digimon were exchanging. He came to the door of that room and grabbed the handle, yanking on the handle, trying to throw open the heavy door.

"Davis! Davis!" the pale boy wailed in pain. Midnight colored hair hung down, free from its usual tie. Pieces clung to his sweat soaked forehead and face, some tangling at his neck, and the rest pooling onto the floor. A large golden colored Apemon was crouched behind him, silent and stern, and holding the Kaiser's arms so the human couldn't get away. He'd been granted the courtesy of the once baggy night shirt that was now pulled taught across his figure, but black boxers had been taken and two Gazimon crowded the vulnerable place between his legs.

"You can't just grab it!" one barked. "You'll break the egg!"

"We've been waiting nearly twenty minutes! How long's it going to take?" the other hissed.

"He'll lay the egg when he lays the egg."

"Fine! But can we at least make him stop crying?"

"Hey! He's right!" the first one now barked at the Kaiser. "Keep it down!" Davis fought with the door before he finally managed to get it to creak open. His eyes widened at the sight of all of the Digimon crowded around. He couldn't even see the Kaiser, and he knew he couldn't muscle his way through, especially not with all of the Apemon around. He was left biting his lip, eyes wide as he looked around. He then backed out of the room and rushed off to get his Digimon. Once that egg was laid, they had to get all of the Digimon away from it so that Davis and the Kaiser could work on containing it. This was definitely a job for Falcomon and Flamedramon.

Davis didn't have to go far. Chibimon was leading the pack with his nose to the ground and following the trail of blood along with Davis' scent. "They're this way!" he exclaimed and pointed with his paw. Just as he turned to pick up the trail again, big red eyes caught sight of his boy. "Davis! I found you!"

"Chibimon!" Davis gasped relievedly. He rushed towards the blue Digimon and gestured back down the hall. "Here's the plan. We wait outside the room for the egg to get laid, then Falcomon goes in and snatches it. and then you, as Flamedramon, and I, keep the Digimon guards busy while Falcomon brings the egg someplace safe. And Wormmon?" he asked, looking up as the last Digimon came across the corner at his not particularly quick pace. "Can you get Ken out of there while we distract them?"

"Of course, I can do my be-"

"I've got a better idea!" Chibimon exclaimed. "C'mon, Pinamon!" In a flash of light, Chibimon evolved straight to Flamedramon, feeding off Davis' energy and strong need to help the Kaiser. He barged into the room, hands ablaze. "Knuckle Fire!" Not even the Apemon stood a chance.

"Wait, Chibimon!" Davis called, but Flamedramon had already run off. Pinamon rushed after him, watching the attack, and the In-Training Digimoneyes widened as he watched. And the longer he watched, the more strength he felt, until he Digivolved into Falcomon. He rushed in after Flamedramon, andn joined the fray as Davis ran after them. "Great," he breathed. He then looked down at Wormmon before he ran into the room as well.

The Kaiser flinched as a ball of fire barely missed his head. "This was your plan?!" he screeched at Davis. "You're lucky this isn't a baby or it would be in shock right now! How stupid can you be?!"

"Flamedramon, careful!" Davis called over his shoulder before he came to crouch in front of the Kaiser. "It wasn't my plan, it was Flamedramon's," he sighed.

"Yes, well I'm sure he gets it from you." The Kaiser tried to glare at Davis, but another wave of horrible pain made his eyes flood with tears instead. "Davis, I'm scared... It really hurts!"

"I-I'm sure it does," Davis stammered, not sure what he was supposed to do. "Just... um..." He looked over his shoulder at the chaos ensuing behind them, Falcomon launching his Ninja Blade attack while fireballs shot everywhere. He then looked back, mouth open but with no words to say.

"I'm not ready yet," he cried, indigo eyes locked with mahogany. "I'm not ready to die. I want more time, Davis. I w-want to stay with you..."

Davis' eyes wavered, but he didn't look away. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, reaching forward and putting his arms around the other boy, pulling him suddenly close to his chest and speaking into his neck. "I'm sorry I can't help."

The Kaiser clung desperately to Davis, his tears staining the boy's shirt. "I... I don't suppose you w-would be willing to... to break the egg again?"

"What good would it do? You'd just have to go through all of this pain from the very beginning again," Davis murmured, pulling back the Kaiser's hair and kissing the side of his face.

"I-I-I'm not ready yet. I-I'm not ready. I... I... I... I'm n-not rea-ah... Aaahn!" The Kaiser doubled forward. His fingers curled violently into the front of Davis' shirt, pulling wrinkles in it.

"You'd never be r-ready," Davis said quietly, trying to keep the shakiness out of his voice. He continued to hold the Kaiser tightly to his chest, even as he felt his tight grip pulling almost painfully at his shirt. "I'm sorry I can't m-make this easier..."

The Kaiser was gasping painfully after the last wave of pain, shaking slightly. "Will you m-miss me, D-Davis?"

"Yes, I will," Davis murmured into the crook of the Kaiser's neck. "You know I will."

"I lo-ah... I lov-aahn! Aaahn! Aaahh!"

Davis choked slightly, not wanting to watch, his eyes shutting tightly. "I love you too," he breathed, arms tightening. "I'm sorry..."

Flamedramon had driven the Digimon off by now. Devolved, he stood with Pinamon and Wormmon at a short distance, watching sadly. Chibimon never thought he'd ever feel bad for the Kaiser. Now, though, he could feel his little heart breaking. Nobody deserved to die like this. The Kaiser choked on his own screams. The pain was more than he could bear. He was terrified, angry, and so, so sad. "Davis! Da-ahh-vis! Da-Ahh! Aaah! Gyaaah! Stop! Stop! Nngh! Make it stop!"

Davis closed his eyes tighter, his throat dry, unable to say or do anything to help. He knew he couldn't. If only they'd never gone through this, any of it, Millenniummon would never had been able to become an egg. If he hadn't left, the Digimon wouldn't be strong enough. If he hadn't been captured, the Kaiser never would have been this attached to him. And if they hadn't gone through this, Davis' own heart wouldn't be breaking to hear this pain.

The Kaiser tilted his head up slightly so he could kiss Davis' jaw. He couldn't get his lips to come together. Instead, he cried against his lover's cheek, mouth open and teeth brushing tan skin.

Davis turned, lifting the Kaiser's chin up a bit and giving him one last kiss on the lips before he pulled the other boy close to him again. He inhaled sharply, making a sobbing sound with no tears. It was horrible to listen to the Kaiser die. He couldn't think of a single way he had once imagined defeating the Kaiser that was more terrible than this. And it tore him apart that all he could do was hold him and listen.

He never loved Davis more than when the boy gave him that kiss. It was almost over. He could feel it. One more push and he knew it would be done. Forcing back a scream, the Kaiser instead found Davis' ear where his tear soaked lips whispered, "I love you." An excrutiating cry followed those words as the egg finally escaped his body. The pale boy shuddered a broken breath of relief before falling limp in the other's arms.

Davis felt the Kaiser's body fall against him. Breathing, and yet broken. His body still alive, but the Kaiser was dead. He made another choking sound, feeling a few tears finally slip down his face. He hastily wiped his eyes dry, pulling the now restful body closer and looking over at the Digimon. "Guys... get the egg and bring it upstairs. I'll... I'll clean up here and be up soon."

Chibimon shook his head. "We'll take care of it, Davis. Don't worry." Wormmon nodded. He got a hold of the egg and rolled it away toward the door. Chibimon and Pinamon scrounged up enough cloth to clean up the mess so Davis could cradle the body of the former Kaiser. The pale boy was motionless for a long time. Like he was merely sleeping. Inside, however, a frenzy of chemical, emotional, and mental changes were occurring. With the dark influence gone, the boy from long ago was finally allowed to wake up. He was finally allowed to speak, move, and feel. Indigo eyes blinked open, their color more vibrant than they once were.

His voice came softly. "Davis..." Slender fingers touched a tan cheek that was tense from holding back tears. "I'm Ken..."

Davis bit his lip when his face was touched, a smile forcing down his sobs. "H-hi, Ken..." he started quietly, swallowing hard before he could truly smile, one that pushed away the pain that still coursed through his heart. "How're you f-feeling now?" he asked.

Ken smiled back, hoping he could make Davis feel even just a little better. "Like a newborn, I think. It's been a long time since I used my body." His pale fingers stroked Davis' face, hoping he didn't mind. "I'm sorry... I know you loved him."

Davis glanced down, but then shook his head slightly. "Don't apologize. It was going to happen sometime," he said quietly.

"Davis," Pinamon's voice cut in meekly. Davis looked down at the little Digimon, whose feathers ruffled slightly as he said, "We finished cleaning, and we found the rest of his clothes..."

"Alright," Davis said, swallowing again before putting on a grin for Ken. "Are you okay to get up? There's someone who's gonna be really happy to see you."

Ken nodded. "I think so, if you don't mind holding my arm. I might be a little shaky on my legs." He looked around the room and then back at Davis. "Wormmon?"

"Yeah," Davis said with a smile as he helped the other boy up. Pinamon presented Davis with the dark, silky pants that were once the Kaiser's sleep pants. Davis took them with a quiet exhale and helped Ken into them before they started off down the hall towards Wormmon's room. It took a long time to get there, Davis carefully helping Ken along. Though, as they got closer to their destination, Ken seemed to be quickly getting the hang of working his body. Pinamon and Chibimon followed closely behind, and Pinamon opened the door, swinging it open with Chibimon's help. Wormmon was in the middle of the room, next to his small nest. He'd cleaned the egg and placed it inside, and was now examining it closely.

Millenniummon's egg was a dark inky blue, almost black, with red speckling like blood splatter. The DigiEgg wasn't what caught Ken's attention, however. His eyes landed first on the little green Digimon. Taking a careful step forward, Ken opened his mouth to call the Digimon's name, but found the sound die on his lips. "He must hate me," Ken whispered to Davis.

"Not at all," Davis whispered back. "He's been waiting for you to be back to normal again for years, and he's never left your side. Look, watch." He came to stand next to Ken. "Wormmon?" The Digimon turned around, his antenna twitching curiously. He'd known Ken was coming back, that he'd be back any minute, but nothing could have prepared him to finally see a kind expression on his partner's face. He knew right when he looked into those lightened eyes that he was seeing Ken again.

"Ken!" he cried, at once abandoning the egg to rush over to the boy, throwing his little claws around his ankle in the best sort of hug he could manage.

"Wormmon..." Ken breathed. He knelt down and picked his Digimon up, hugging Wormmon close to his chest. "I'm so sorry for all the horrible things I did to you. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Of course, Ken. I could never stay mad at you for the things you did. It was the fault of the Dark Spore, not you," Wormmon warbled as he cuddled happily into the boy chest. He hadn't been held by Ken for almost five years. The closest he'd gotten to contact with him was being kicked. It felt like everything was suddenly right with the world, even after the terrible events that had occurred that morning.

"I know..." Ken pet his hand down Wormmon's back. "I still feel horrible, though. I saw everything I did, though. All of it. I was so cruel to you. I'm so sorry. You deserved better than that."

"It'll be alright now, though," Wormmon said, putting his claws up on Ken's chest, his expression reflecting a smile that pincers couldn't form. "Now you're back to normal and you never have to go back to sharing your body again. You'll be allowed to be kind, like you're meant to be."

Ken nodded with his own warm smile, a few tears in his eyes. He turned to face the other boy. "I owe you an apology, too, Davis. I treated you horribly. The things I did to you... Should never have happened to anybody."

"You don't have to apologize," Davis said with a shake of his head. "Like Wormmon said, you shouldn't be blamed for what you did while Millenniummon was inside you." The tanned boy could see the look of guilt on Ken's face, and he smiled slightly. "But, if you insist... I accept your apology."

"Thank you," Ken said with a bow of his head. A subtle sound from behind caught Ken's attention. He turned back to see Millenniummon's egg twitching and shaking. Ken's already pale face went white. "Oh no..."

Davis peered behind the boy and his eyes went wide. "I-It's already hatching?"

"I knew it would be fast... but not this fast," Wormmon breathed, antenna twitching nervously as he looked at the egg.

"We didn't get any time to even try to contain it at all!" Pinamon cried.

We have to do something!" Chibimon shouted.

"Give it to me," Ken said suddenly, strangely calm. "I'll break it and accept the infection. I was the Kaiser once. I can do it again. You and the others can just try again. Make the containment unit first this time. We'll do it right."

"No!" Wormmon shouted, shaking his head quickly and tugging at the front of Ken's shirt. "You can't! Not after I just got you back! Let it hatch and let Millenniummon run rampant, just don't go back to being the Kaiser!" Davis watched Wormmon's display with a small frown on his face. His eyes went between the egg and the desperate Digimon as Wormmon shook his head violently, still begging Ken not to take the infection back. And just like that, he'd made his choice. He rushed forward, snatched the egg out of the nest, and ran out of the room at full speed.

"Davis!" both Ken and Chibimon cried in unison. They all took off after him, Chibimon leading the pack. While Davis ran faster than they could keep up, he could follow his boy's scent with ease. A suddenly slam of a door told them he'd stopped.

Ken looked around, finding them outside the control room of the citadel. "Davis, don't do this!" the boy called through the door.

Chibimon jumped up, grabbed the handle, and tried to pull down, but it didn't budge. "Davis! Davis, no!" his little voice squeaked desperately. Davis had locked the door to the control room behind him, and was left standing in the dark room, holding the wriggling egg in his arms. He could hear his name being called through the heavy door, but he could also hear the threat of the eggshell beginning to crack from the inside. There was no time left. There was no time to negotiate or come up with a plan. Davis grit his teeth, lifted the egg high above his head, and smashed it down onto the ground. Wormmon and Pinamon, trying to open the door, both jumped when an ear-splitting scream suddenly echoed from inside the room. Chibimon was left just standing there. His wide red eyes quivering, voice was gone, ears folded back at the horrible sound. No... No... Not Davis. Not his boy.

Ken was the only one who pushed forward. He slammed himself against the large metallic door, fists beating upon its surface. "Davis! Davis! ...Davis!"

* * *

The End!

We hope you all have enjoyed The New Millennium. Keep an eye out for the sequel!


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